BAQUBA - The Awakening Councils in Diyala province are stepping up their protests against the government in Baghdad. The Awakening Councils, or the Sahwa as they are called, are a mostly Sunni Muslim force set up by the US to draw in resistance fighters into their...

BAQUBA - University professors now enjoy increased pay, but in the face of threats and isolation, there is little they are able to do in the world of academics. All that has gotten better is the pay. Under the regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein – and...

BAQUBA - U.S.-backed Sunni militants have challenged the U.S.-backed Iraqi government in Baghdad and demanded political power after two women were killed by government forces. Tensions rose earlier this month when men dressed in Iraqi security personnel uniforms...

BAQUBA - Conditions are particularly difficult for women in Baquba, despite the relative lull in violence. The city, about 40 km northeast of Baghdad, is capital of Diyala province, amongst the most troubled regions of Iraq in recent months. As in all conflict areas,...

BAQUBA - Broken promises have brought a dramatic increase in anti-US sentiment across the capital city of Iraq's Diyala province. Many people in Baquba, capital of Diyala 40 km northeast of Baghdad, had supported US forces when they ousted former Iraqi dictator Saddam...

BAQUBA - Continuing curfew has brought normal life to a standstill in Baquba, capital of the restive Diyala province north of Baghdad. Through nearly three decades of rule under Saddam Hussein, Iraqis witnessed only two curfews; for the census in the 1970s and 1980s....

BAQUBA - It's turning out to be about the hardest winter Abu Muslih has known. Too often it's a choice between buying food and medicines, and buying kerosene to keep his children warm. "I see them feeling cold, so I go out to buy kerosene at any price,"...

BAQUBA - The Iraqi government announcement that monthly food rations will be cut by half has left many Iraqis asking how they can survive. The government also wants to reduce the number of people depending on the rationing system by five million by June 2008. Iraq's...

BAQUBA - The alarming security situation in Diyala province north of Baghdad has killed off much of the education system. The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq had at first brought hope. Salaries were increased: a newly appointed primary or secondary school teacher was given...

BAQUBA - Facing violence, unemployment and poverty, the capital city of Iraq's volatile Diyala province now finds itself confronting corruption. This follows the failed promises of reform, reconstruction and rehabilitation at the beginning of the US occupation of...