Quote of the Day (Courtesy of Robert Fisk), Jonathan Whittall of the Médecins Sans Frontières referring to his job of providing medical aid to Palestinians in Gaza being akin: “to patch(ing) up prisoners in between their torture sessions “

18th July: The Iraqi Government is coordinating with French authorities is trying to reclaim Iraqi assets of the previous regime in France.
19th July: The representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Nikolai Meladanov, visits Najaf and meets with Ali al-Sistani. He later tells reporters that Sistani stressed on the formation of a government that was acceptable to all Iraqis. Meladanov also visited three other Shia Marjas in Najaf: Mohammed Said al-Hakim, Bashir al-Najafi, and Muhammad Isehaq al-Fayyad.
19th July: Baha al-Araji, an MP with the Sadr al-Ahrar political bloc has asked the Kurdish authorities to expedite their nomination for the post of President.
19th July: The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of President Jalal Talibani has selected Fuad Massoum as its Presidential candidate. Massoum is believed to be close to Jalal Talibani.
19th July: Amnesty International is reporting of gross Human Right violations by Daash. Daash militants have been cited as carrying out sectarian kidnappings and murders of Shia civilians in areas that it captured.
Amnesty also singled out the Iraqi government for indiscriminate air strikes and shelling of Daash held areas and of the death of 100 detainees.
Amnesty has asked the region of Iraqi Kurdistan to open up its border crossings. The Kurdish autonomy government placed restrictions on non Kurdish Iraqis along its border.
19th July: Human Rights Watch has released a statement highlighting the kidnappings and murder of Daash rebels. The victims have been primarily Turkoman Shias, Yazidis, Christians, and Shabak Ethnic groups.
19th July: In response to Jordan hosting the yet to be named group of opposition parties to the Iraqi Government, the Iraqi government is considering the cessation of oil shipments to Jordan. Iraq has been supplying oil to Jordan at US$10/barrel. The opposition group called for the overthrow of Iraq’s government and consisted of former Ba’athist, current Islamists, former army men and Iraqi Sunni politicians.
19th July: Amer al- Kenani, an MP of the Ahrar block (Sadr’s party) has told Kurdish press that the State of the Law Coalition of Maliki may be contemplating some other candidate for Prime Minister. State of the Law Coalition is Prime Minister Maliki’s party and holds the largest number of seats in the house. Maliki won the election with 700,000 votes.
19th July: Daash has released guidelines for the type of “Abaya” or cloak that can be sold by shopkeepers and worn by women. Manufacturers have been asked to approach the “Centre of Calculations” to determine these specifications. All non Daash specified apparels will be confiscated in 5 days time.
19th July: The DI of Daash had issued a decree asking Christians in Mosul to either:
Become Muslims
Pay Religious Tax
Die
The Christians of Mosul chose “d) None of the above” and have left Mosul in mass.
Daash had earlier removed all Christian Doctors and Nurses from their jobs and prevented them from working.
19th July: Iraqi armed forces have taken back control of Nofal and al-Sodor villages in Diyala. Ten Dassh/rebel fighters were killed in the assault on these villages. Some of the rebel dead are non Iraqi Arabs.
19th July: A Suicide bombing at a police checkpoint in the south of Baghdad has left 7 dead and wounded 19. Baghdad was hit by five car bombs in mostly Shia neigbourhoods killing 26.
19th July: A mortar attack on a security post of the Peshmergas in Jalawlaa, Diyala leaves 5 Peshmergas injured/dead
19th July: Daash terrorists are preventing Christians leaving Nineveh from carrying their possessions and money. Their properties are being looted by Daash.
19th July: Atta’s/Government claims for the day:
Government air strikes have destroyed 3 vehicles and 7 Daash/rebel fighters near Baiji refinery

Related:
19th July: More “proof” that Daash is American: Daash is suing Al Qaida. Five Islamists in Jordan have taken Abu Mohammed Al Maqdissi (cleric sympathetic to Al Qaida) to Sharia court for claiming that the DI of Daash (Daulat Islamia) was un-Islamic.
19th July: Iran has said that it is willing to allow commercial/passenger flights over its airspace after the shooting down of the Malaysian Airliner in a possible false flag operation carried out by the pro US Ukrainian government.
19th July: Samir Zaitoun of the Tawheed Brigade (an anti regime militia) in Syria claims that half of the foreign fighters in Aleppo have got disillusioned and left in the last year. He states that most of them expected a “whirlwind” Jihad over the summer.
19th July: Iran has edited parts of the Oscar winning film “The Message” that it felt distorted historic facts. The edited version is more in keeping with the Shia Hadees narrative.
19th July: The Iranian nuclear negotiations have been extended till the 24th of November 2014. Meanwhile, the centrifuges keep spinning.

Further Reading:
Understanding Kurdistan: When the Kurds win, everybody else looses, except Israel:
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraqi-kurdistan-and-israel-choice-between-political-strategies-and-moral-stances
An analysis of the current situation in Iraq
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/07/why-iraq-is-more-stable-than-you-think-108708_Page2.html#.U8qckuOSwht