Author: QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press

BAGHDAD — The American University of Baghdad celebrated the graduation of its first cohort of students Saturday at a campus that was once a palace built by Saddam Hussein. Officials said they hope the graduation will mark the beginning of a new era in higher education in Iraq rooted in modernity, openness and international academic […]

BAGHDAD — More than 19,000 prisoners have been released in Iraq so far this year under a broad new amnesty law that eases prison crowding and frees some people convicted of terrorism-related crimes, judicial authorities said Tuesday. The amnesty covers some people convicted of the terror-related offense of membership in the Islamic State group, which […]

BAGHDAD — As a general amnesty law takes effect in Iraq, the country’s prisons are facing a crisis of overcrowding, housing more than double their intended capacity, the country’s justice minister said in an interview. Justice Minister Khaled Shwani told The Associated Press on Saturday that Iraq’s 31 prisons currently hold approximately 65,000 inmates, despite […]

BAGHDAD — An official invitation to new Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to attend the upcoming Arab League summit in Baghdad has triggered sharp political divisions within Iraq. Al-Sharaa took power after leading a lightning rebel offensive that unseated his predecessor, Bashar Assad, in December. Since then, he has positioned himself as a statesman aiming to […]

BAGHDAD — The final results of Iraq’s first census in nearly 40 years released Monday show the population has reached 46.1 million. In 2009, an unofficial count estimated the population at 31.6 million. Iraqi officials have called the population count a milestone and said it will provide essential data for future planning and resource distribution. […]

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s oil ministry announced Saturday the resumption of oil exports from northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region. The exports had been halted for nearly two years after the International Chamber of Commerce sided with Iraq in an arbitration case as a long-standing dispute over the independent export of oil by the Kurdish regional government. […]

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s top court suspended implementation Tuesday of three controversial bills passed last month by the country’s parliament, including a measure that activists said undermines women’s rights. A number of members of parliament filed a complaint alleging that the voting process was illegal because all three bills — each supported by different blocs — […]

BAGHDAD — After a nearly yearlong vacuum, Iraq’s Parliament elected a new speaker Thursday, selecting a prominent Sunni lawmaker who has a close relationship with Iran. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, who served a previous stint as speaker from 2006 to 2009, was elected by a vote of 182 of the 269 legislators who attended the session, a […]

Hundreds of protesters have gathered in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah demanding the release of activists arrested over earlier demonstrations, with clashes breaking out between protesters and security forces BAGHDAD — Hundreds of protesters gathered Friday in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah demanding the release of activists arrested over earlier demonstrations, with clashes breaking out […]