Iraq

American soldiers early this month killed the alleged No. 2 leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, a Moroccan known as Abu Qaswarah who trained in Afghanistan, recruited foreign fighters and ran operations in northern Iraq where Sunni insurgents remain a potent threat, the U.S. military said. On Oct. 5, The US military reported that 11 people including women and children died in Mosul when an extremist detonated a suicide vest but it was unclear if this was the same incident in which Abu Qaswarah died. In other news, over 150 international experts will examine the current state of Iraq’s education system, with a spotlight on the right to attend school, at an upcoming UNESCO conference in Paris from Oct. 30–Nov. 1. (AP, UN News Service)