Iraq

BAGHDAD, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Millions of Iraqi students and teachers on Monday returned to classrooms for the start of a new school year after two years of studying online due to the spread of the coronavirus.

Early in the morning, the students went to the thousands of primary and secondary schools across the country, except for the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, which started the school year earlier.

BAGHDAD, Oct 27 (NNN-NINA) – Up to 10 civilians were killed and 12 others wounded yesterday, in an attack by militants of the extremist Daesh group, in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala, a provincial police source said.

“The latest report said, ten people were killed and 12 wounded, in attack in the al-Rashad village,” Alaa al-Saadi from the provincial police said.

22 Oct 2021; MEMO: Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission yesterday announced its rejection of 174 appeals and acceptance to seven others submitted by candidates and political parties following the announcement of election results.

21 Oct 2021; MEMO: Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission said yesterday it had received nearly 1,400 appeals contesting the election results.

Commission chairman, Judge Jalil Adnan Khalaf, said all 1,400 appeals would be reviewed and voting stations where irregularities are found will be reopened for a manual recount of the votes with representatives of the competing candidates in attendance.

BAGHDAD, Oct 17 (NNN-NINA) – Iraq’s prominent Shiite cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, set several conditions yesterday, to deal with the United States if his Sadrist Movement takes office.

One of the conditions is that, diplomatic relations between the United States and Iraq should be “state-to-state with full sovereignty,” al-Sadr tweeted, after his party appeared the frontrunner in the Oct 10 parliamentary elections.

Al-Sadr noted that, the talks should be serious about the U.S. troops’ withdrawal from Iraq.

BAGHDAD, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi President Barham Salih on Friday called on objectors to Sunday's early election results to calm down and resort to law to preserve the country's stability.

"We call on all parties to adopt a responsible national stance, keep calm, and avoid any escalation that might affect societal peace and security," Salih said in a statement issued by the presidency media office.

14 Oct 2021; MEMO: A candidate in the Iraqi parliamentary elections has won a seat in Baghdad's parliament, despite having passed away in August.

The independent candidate, Ansam Manuel Iskandar, was amongst the list of winners in the elections this week, obtaining 2,397 votes and winning one of the five seats allocated for the country's Christian community under the quota system.

12 Oct 2021; MEMO: After winning the largest number of seats in this weekend's early parliamentary elections, Shia Iraqi cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr warned against external interference in the formation of the new government, Anadolu reported yesterday.

11 Oct 2021; MEMO: Vote counting was underway in Iraq today, a day after a record low turnout in a parliamentary election, reflecting what many Iraqis said was a loss of faith in the country's democratic process and political class, Reuters reports.

The turnout in yesterday's election was 41 per cent, the electoral commission said. The lowest turnout was in Baghdad, with between 31 per cent and 34 per cent.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq saw a record low turnout in this weekend’s parliamentary elections, the independent body that oversees the election said Monday. The preliminary results signal widespread dissatisfaction and distrust in the vote.

The election was held months ahead of schedule as a concession to a youth-led popular uprising against corruption and mismanagement. But the vote was marred by widespread apathy and a boycott by many of the same young activists who thronged the streets of Baghdad and Iraq’s southern provinces in late 2019, calling for change and new elections.