Stricter bail rules for repeat, violent offenders now in effect

Associated Press

Airstrike in central Baghdad kills Iran-backed militia leader as regional tensions escalate

A U.S. airstrike on the headquarters of an Iran-backed militia in central Baghdad on Thursday killed a high-ranking militia commander, militia officials said. It also coincides with a push by Iraqi officials for US-led coalition forces to leave the country. The Popular Mobilization Force, or PMF, a coalition of militias that is nominally under the control of the Iraqi military, announced in a statement that its deputy head of operations in Baghdad, identified as Abu Taqwa, had been killed “as a result of brutal American aggression.”