Suicide Bomber Kills 55 in Iraqi Restaurant

Dispute over Kirkuk holds up passage of new election law

(NEWSER) - A dispute over the oil-rich province of Kirkuk is threatening to delay the Iraqi elections scheduled for January and push Arab-Kurd tensions past the breaking point. Kurdish lawmakers in the Iraqi parliament have vowed to block a vote on a new election law unless authorities agree to use voter records from 2009 in the election, instead of records from 2004 when the population was more heavily Arabic. More»

Dozens wounded; explosions end weeks of relative peace

(NEWSER) - Bombs struck more than a dozen Iraqi cities this morning, killing 56 and wounding dozens more. The coordinated explosions mark the first major violence in a comparatively peaceful month of Ramadan, the AP notes; the violence comes as as officials debate whether to maintain a US presence in the country beyond the end of the year. More»

More than taken 100 hostage in Baghdad yesterday

(NEWSER) - Dozens are dead and more than 50 wounded after militants took nearly 100 hostage in a Catholic church in Baghdad yesterday, prompting Iraqi anti-terrorist forces to storm the building. Officials say most of the injuries and deaths occurred after the kidnappers set off two suicide vests, the New York Times reports. “All the terrorists” were killed and several suspects were arrested, said the minister of defense, who defended the decision to intervene and called it a "successful operation." More»

Galbraith's policy push won him $100M

(NEWSER) - An influential American advocate for Iraqi Kurds, who helped successfully secure Kurdish control over new oil finds in northern Iraq in the country's constitution, stands to reap more than $100 million from the policy he shaped. Peter Galbraith, it turns out, received rights to an enormous oil stake in Kurdistan in 2004, after negotiating permission for a Norwegian oil company to drill there, the New York Times reports. More»

(AP) - The United States is considering speeding up its withdrawal from Iraq because of the sustained drop in violence there, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today, following discussions with his top commanders in the war. "I think there's at least some chance of a modest acceleration," this year, Gates said, calling the situation "better than expected." More»