First class graduates from American University of Baghdad, once Saddam’s palace

The American University of Iraq - Baghdad graduates throw their mortarboards into the air during the first graduation for the school in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 25 May 2025
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First class graduates from American University of Baghdad, once Saddam’s palace

  • A total of 38 students — 20 male and 18 female — graduated Saturday with degrees in business administration, sciences and humanities at a ceremony attended by political dignitaries as well as families and faculty members

BAGHDAD: The American University of Baghdad celebrated the graduation of its first cohort of students Saturday at a campus that was once a palace built by Saddam Hussein.
Officials said they hope the graduation will mark the beginning of a new era in higher education in Iraq rooted in modernity, openness and international academic standards.
The university was inaugurated in 2021 on the site of the Al-Faw Palace, built on an island in the middle of an artificial lake by Saddam in the 1990s to mark the retaking of the peninsula of the same name during the war.
After the US-led invasion that unseated Saddam in 2003, it was used as a US coalition military headquarters called Camp Victory. It was later developed into an American-style university with a core liberal arts program through funding by influential Iraqi business owner Saadi Saihood.
A total of 38 students — 20 male and 18 female — graduated Saturday with degrees in business administration, sciences and humanities at a ceremony attended by political dignitaries as well as families and faculty members.
Speaking to the attendees, university President Dr. Michael Mulnix reflected on the university’s rocky beginnings.
“When I first arrived at the American University of Baghdad in 2018, the campus looked nothing like it does today,” he said. “Years of war and neglect had left the infrastructure in ruins, with many buildings damaged or destroyed. Today, we stand before an exceptional, nonprofit academic institution that ranks among the finest research universities.”
Today AUB has a growing network of international partnerships with top universities, he said, including Vanderbilt University, Colorado School of Mines, Lawrence Technological University, Temple University, the University of Exeter, and Sapienza University of Rome.
University founder and owner Saihood called the graduation “a symbolic moment that affirms this institution was built to last and to make a real difference.”
He acknowledged the economic challenges facing graduates, especially the scarcity of government employment, but emphasized that the university has equipped its students with the adaptability and initiative needed to thrive in the private sector or through entrepreneurship.
Although Iraq’s security situation has improved in recent years after decades of conflict, the country still suffers from brain drain as young people seek opportunities and stability abroad.
“The future in Iraq is not easy. All of us graduates have concerns,” said Mohammed Baqir from Najaf province, who graduated Saturday with a bachelor’s degree in business. “But what sets us apart from other universities is that we’ve already received job offers through AUB, especially in the private sector. Although my education cost around ten million Iraqi dinars, it was a truly valuable investment.” Ten million Iraqi dinars equals about $7,600.


UN calls for ‘immediate deescalation’ in Libyan capital

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UN calls for ‘immediate deescalation’ in Libyan capital

TRIPOLI: The UN mission in Libya called for “immediate deescalation,” citing reports of armed forces being mobilized in the capital and its surroundings that have raised fears of renewed violence.
In mid-May, there were clashes in Tripoli between forces loyal to the government and powerful armed groups wanting to dismantle it.
In a statement published late on Wednesday on X, the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said there were “increased reports of continued military build-up in and around Tripoli.”
It said it “strongly urges all parties to refrain from using force, particularly in densely populated areas, and to avoid any actions or political rhetoric that could trigger escalation or lead to renewed clashes.”
It called for all parties to “engage in good faith” in deescalation and for the “swift implementation of security arrangements” set out during efforts to end the May violence.
Those clashes left six people dead, the United Nations said.
“Forces recently deployed in Tripoli must withdraw without delay,” UNSMIL said.
Libya has been gripped by conflict since the 2011 overthrow and killing of longtime ruler Muammar Qaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising.
The country remains split between Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah’s UN-recognized government based in Tripoli and a rival administration based in the east.
In a TV interview on Monday, Dbeibah called for armed groups to vacate the areas under their control.
Among the sites held by armed factions are the Mitiga airport in the east of the capital, which is controlled by the powerful Radaa Force.
“Dialogue — not violence — remains the only viable path toward achieving lasting peace, stability in Tripoli and across Libya,” the UNSMIL statement said.

What to know as Yemen’s Houthi rebels launch new, more violent attacks on ships in the Red Sea

Updated 56 min 13 sec ago
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What to know as Yemen’s Houthi rebels launch new, more violent attacks on ships in the Red Sea

  • For the Houthis, attacking commercial ships remains far easier than targeting warships as those vessels don’t have air defense systems
  • The attacks on the two ships, the Magic Seas and the Eternity C, represent a new level of violence being employed by the Houthis

DUBAI: In just days, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have begun a new, more violent campaign of attacks targeting ships in the Red Sea, sinking two of them and killing some of their crew.
The assaults represent the latest chapter of the rebels’ campaign against shipping over the Israel-Hamas war. They also come as Yemen’s nearly decadelong war drags on in the Arab world’s poorest country, without any sign of stopping.
Here’s what to know about the Houthis, Yemen and their ongoing attacks.
Rebels involved in years of fighting
The Houthis are members of Islam’s minority Shiite Zaydi sect, which ruled Yemen for 1,000 years until 1962. They battled Yemen’s central government for years before sweeping down from their northern stronghold in Yemen and seizing the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. That launched a grinding war still technically being waged in the country today. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to try to restore Yemen’s exiled, internationally recognized government to power.
Years of bloody, inconclusive fighting against the Saudi-led coalition settled into a stalemated proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, causing widespread hunger and misery in Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country. The war has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more.
A ceasefire that technically ended in October 2022 is still largely being honored. Saudi Arabia and the rebels have done some prisoner swaps, and a Houthi delegation was invited to high-level peace talks in Riyadh in September 2023 as part of a wider détente the kingdom has reached with Iran. While they reported “positive results,” there is still no permanent peace.
Houthis supported by Tehran while raising own profile
Iran long has backed the Houthis. Tehran routinely denies arming the rebels, despite physical evidence, numerous seizures and experts tying the weapons back to Iran. That’s likely because Tehran wants to avoid sanctions for violating a United Nations arms embargo on the Houthis.
The Houthis now form the strongest group within Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance.” Others like Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have been decimated by Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas that sparked Israel’s war of attrition in the Gaza Strip.
Iran also is reeling after Israel launched a 12-day war against the country and the US struck Iranian nuclear sites.
The Houthis also have seen their regional profile raise as they have attacked Israel, as many in the Arab world remain incensed by the suffering Palestinians in the Gaza Strip face.
Houthis attack ships over Israel-Hamas war
The Houthis have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Between November 2023 and December 2024, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two and killing four sailors. Their campaign has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually.
The last Houthi attack, targeting US warships escorting commercial ships, happened in early December. A ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war began in January and held until March. The US then launched a broad assault against the rebels that ended weeks later when Trump said the rebels pledged to stop attacking ships.
Since then, the Houthis have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel, but they hadn’t attacked ships until this past weekend. Shipping through the Red Sea, while still lower than normal, had increased in recent weeks.
New attacks raise level of violence and complexity
The attacks on the two ships, the Magic Seas and the Eternity C, represent a new level of violence being employed by the Houthis.
Experts have referred to the assaults as being complex in nature, involving armed rebels first racing out to the vessels in the Red Sea, firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. They then have used anti-ship missiles and both aerial and sea drones loaded with explosives to attack the ships.
This coordinated attack sank two vessels in just a matter of days, doubling the number of ships they have sunk. There also is a growing fear the attack on the Eternity C may have been the rebels’ deadliest at sea as crew members remain missing.
The attacks also signal that Israeli and American airstrikes have not stripped the rebels of their ability to launch attacks.
Commercial ships have few defense options
For the Houthis, attacking commercial ships remains far easier than targeting warships as those vessels don’t have air defense systems. Instead, some carry a few armed guards able to shoot at attackers or approaching drones. Downing a drone remains difficult and shooting down a missile is impossible with their weaponry.
Armed guards also typically are more trained for dealing with piracy and will spray fire hoses at approaching small boats or ring a bridge with cyclone wire to stop attackers from climbing aboard. The Houthis, however, have experience doing helicopter-borne assaults and likely could overwhelm a private security detail, which often is just a three-member team aboard a commercial vessel.
Resumed attacks have international and domestic motives
To hear it from the Houthis, the new attack campaign “represents a qualitative shift in the course of the open battle in support of Gaza.” Their SABA news agency said Israel commits “daily massacres against civilians in Gaza and relies on sea lanes to finance its aggression and maintain its siege.”
“This stance, which is not content with condemnation or statements, is also advancing with direct military action, in a clear effort to support the Palestinians on various fronts,” the rebels said.
However, the rebels stopped their attacks in late December as Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire. The Houthis formally suspended their attacks, though they said ships or companies calling on Israeli ports would remain possible targets.
The rebels also may have reconstituted their forces following the grinding American airstrikes that targeted them. They have not acknowledged their materiel losses from the attacks, though the US has said it dropped more than 2,000 munitions on more than 1,000 targets.
There likely is an international and domestic consideration, as well. Abroad, a new possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war — as well as the future of talks between the US and Iran over Tehran’s battered nuclear program — remain in the balance. The Houthis in the past have been a cudgel used by Tehran, though experts debate just how much influence Tehran wields in picking targets for the rebels.
At home, the Houthis have faced growing discontent over their rule as Yemen’s economy is in tatters and they have waged a campaign of detaining of UN officials and aid workers. Resuming their attacks can provide the Houthis something to show those at home to bolster their control.


Israeli army says intercepted missile launched from Yemen

Updated 10 July 2025
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Israeli army says intercepted missile launched from Yemen

  • The Houthis carried out a military operation using a ballistic missile

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Thursday, with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels later claiming responsibility for the attack, which followed Israeli strikes on Houthi targets.
The Houthis “carried out a qualitative military operation” using a ballistic missile, military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement.
The Israeli military said earlier in a post on X that a missile launched from Yemen had been intercepted following air raid sirens that sounded before dawn in several areas of Israel.
The Houthis began targeting Israel and ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden they accuse of having links to the country after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians.
In response, Israel has carried out several strikes on Yemen, including attacks on Sunday on the port city of Hodeida.
The Houthis claimed responsibility this week for the sinking of two vessels, as they resumed their campaign against global shipping in the Red Sea.
Their fresh attacks mark the end of a months-long lull and threaten a May ceasefire with the United States that ended weeks of strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
Saree said the Eternity C bulk carrier, which was first attacked on Monday, was headed for the Israeli port of Eilat and was attacked in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Saree warned companies dealing with Israeli ports that their ships would be targeted until Israel was forced to “lift the siege” on Gaza and end the war.
The Houthis said Monday that they had boarded and sank another vessel, the Magic Seas, a day earlier, because its owner had done business with Israel and used its ports.
Houthi attacks have prompted many shipping firms to make the time-consuming detour around the southern tip of Africa to avoid the Red Sea, which normally carries about 12 percent of global trade.


Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian man in West Bank

Updated 10 July 2025
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Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian man in West Bank

  • The Israeli military said separately that troops deployed in the village “neutralized” a man

RAMALLAH: Palestinian authorities said Israeli troops killed a 55-year-old man in the north of the occupied West Bank on Thursday — an incident the Israeli army said involved a stabbing attack.
The Ramallah-based health ministry said the body in charge of coordination with Israel informed it that soldiers “shot and killed” the man in Rummanah, near Jenin, in the morning.
The Israeli military said separately that troops deployed in the village “neutralized” a man after he stabbed and “moderately injured” a soldier.
The army generally uses the term “neutralized” after killing someone.
Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack of October 2023 triggered the Gaza war.
A 12-year-old Palestinian boy died Thursday of wounds suffered during an army raid near the West Bank town of Nablus last week, the health ministry said.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 951 Palestinians, including many militants, the ministry said.
Over the same period, at least 35 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to Israeli figures.


PKK disarmament to take a few months in Iraq, Turkiye ruling party says

Updated 1 min 21 sec ago
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PKK disarmament to take a few months in Iraq, Turkiye ruling party says

  • The PKK, which has been locked in a bloody conflict with the Turkish state for more than four decades, decided in May to disband and end its armed struggle

ISTANBUL: The handover of weapons by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Iraq, following its decision to disband, should be completed within a few months, a spokeperson for Turkiye’s ruling AK Party said late on Wednesday.
Speaking to broadcaster NTV, Omer Celik said a confirmation mechanism, including officials from Turkish intelligence and the armed forces, will oversee the handover process.
“The disarmament ... process (in Iraq) needs to be completed within three to five months... If it exceeds this period, it will become vulnerable to provocations,” Celik said on NTV.
The PKK, which has been locked in a bloody conflict with the Turkish state for more than four decades, decided in May to disband and end its armed struggle.
PKK militants are set to begin handing over weapons in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Friday as part of the peace process with Turkiye.
Since the PKK launched its insurgency against Turkiye in 1984 — originally with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state — the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, imposed a huge economic burden and fueled social tensions.