Kurds Threaten to Block Iraqi Election

ALL ART IS FILE STUFF. NOTHING FROM AP YET

(AP) - A suicide bomber killed 55 people and wounded 120 in a crowded restaurant in northern Iraq today, as Kurdish officials were meeting there with Arab tribal leaders to discuss long-standing ethnic tensions, the AP reports. It appeared to be the deadliest attack in Iraq in nearly 6 months.The blast occurred in the Abdullah Restaurant just north of Kirkuk, the contested oil city. More»

US tries to stave off no-confidence vote against PM Maliki

(NEWSER) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is under fire again, this time from Kurdish politicians who say he hasn’t followed through on promises he made after the Kurds propped him up last summer. A Kurdish/Sunni coalition against Maliki almost has enough votes to depose him, a development the US fears would set back already-sluggish political progress, the Washington Post reports. 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»

Vote set for Jan. 21, US will begin withdrawal 60 days later

(AP) - Iraq's parliament passed a long-delayed law yesterday paving the way for the planned January election to go forward, sidestepping a crisis that could have delayed the US troop withdrawal. The head of Iraq's electoral commission quickly proposed Jan. 21 for the election, five days after the earlier scheduled date. The American ambassador said the troop drawdown will start in earnest about 60 days after the vote. 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»