The Iraqi parliament has put off a vote on a key election law after failing to reach a quorum, raising the prospect of January polls being delayed. Some MPs blamed a Kurdish boycott for the failure.
The first population census in Iraq in two decades will be delayed indefinitely because of a land dispute in the country's north pitting Kurdish autonomous authorities against the central government in Baghdad.
Iran has confirmed the arrest of three US hikers who entered its territory from northern Iraq, a US State Department spokesman said. The trio was arrested by Iranian authorities after straying across the border from Iraq's northern Kurdistan region.
One day after his decisive re-election, Kurdish President Massud Barzani has announced the start of negotiations with Baghdad authorities. The negotiations are expected to determine the future of Kirkuk and of its oilfields.
Massud Barzani won another presidential term in Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan. Furthermore, The two main Kurdish parties, which ran on a joint parliamentary list, won 57 percent of the vote in this weekend’s elections.
Iraqi authorities will release preliminary results from weekend elections in the automomous Kurdish region on Monday as the potentially challenging Goran (Change) opposition party claims it won more than a quarter of the region's parliamentary seats.
Goran (which means change), a new opposition party in Iraqi Kurdistan, has said it made a breakthrough toward ending the region's dominance by the two main former rebel factions, raising the novel prospect of a strong opposition in parliament.
Iraqi Kurds massively went to the polls in elections expected to keep Masoud Barzani in power in the autonomous region of Kurdistan. Voter turnout was estimated at 78.5%. Final results are not expected for two to three days.
Polls closed in Iraqi Kurdistan's presidential and legislative elections after staying open an extra hour due to voter complaints. Regional president Massud Barzani is tipped to retain his post.
