Polls open in Iraq's general elections amid tight security
The Hindu
A total of 3,449 candidates are vying for 329 seats in the parliamentary elections, which will be the sixth held since the fall of Saddam Hussein after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003
Iraq closed its airspace and land border crossings on October 10 as voters headed to the polls to elect a Parliament that many hope will deliver much needed reforms after decades of conflict and mismanagement.
The vote was brought forward by six months in response to a popular uprising in the capital Baghdad and southern provinces in late 2019, when tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest endemic corruption, poor services and rising unemployment. They were met with deadly force by security forces firing live ammunition and tear gas. More than 600 people were killed and thousands injured within just a few months.
A total of 3,449 candidates are vying for 329 seats in the parliamentary elections, which will be the sixth held since the fall of Saddam Hussein after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Former astronaut William Anders, who took iconic Earthrise photo, has died in Washington plane crash
William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic “Earthrise” photo from space in 1968, was killed on June 7 when the plane he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state.