ATLEAST5 KILLED IN IRAQ CLASHES

» Anti-government

B A GHD A D protesters crossed a major bridge in Baghdad on Monday, approaching the prime minister’s office and the headquarters of Iraq’s state-run TV, as security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas, killing at least five demonstrators and wounding dozens.

The protesters hurled rocks and set tires and dumpsters ablaze, sending clouds of black smoke into the air. Security forces flooded into the area to protect government buildings, and gunfire echoed through the streets.

For days, the protesters have been trying to cross the Tigris River to the heavily fortified Green Zone, where the government is headquartered.

Turkey says it captured slain Islamic State leader’s sister.

Turkey captured the elder sister of the slain leader of the Islamic State group in northwestern Syria on Monday, according to a senior Turkish official, who called the arrest an intelligence “gold mine.”

Little is known about the sister of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The Turkish official said the 65year-old known as Rasmiya Awad is suspected of being affiliated with the extremist group. He did not elaborate.

“This kind of thing is an intelligence gold mine. What she knows about (the Islamic State) can significantly expand our understanding of the group and help us catch more bad guys,” the official said.

450-plus inmates walk out of prison doors.

More than 450 inmates walked out the doors of prisons across Oklahoma on Monday as part of what state officials say is the largest singleday mass commutation in U.S. history.

The release of inmates, all with convictions for low-level drug and property crimes, resulted from a bill signed by new Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt. The bill retroactively applied misdemeanor sentences for simple drug possession and low-level property crimes that state voters approved in 2016.

Stitt has made reducing Oklahoma’s highest-in-the-nation incarceration rate one of his top priorities and has appointed reformminded members to the state’s Pardon and Parole Board.

Releasing the inmates will save Oklahoma an estimated $11.9 million over the cost of continuing to keep them behind bars, according to the governor’s office.

Hoyle chosen to be U.K. Commons speaker.

Long-serving Labour Party lawmaker Lindsay Hoyle was elected speaker of Britain’s House of Commons on Monday, taking up the job with a clear message: I’m not John Bercow.

Hoyle was chosen by lawmakers from among seven candidates to replace the influential but contentious Bercow. Bercow retired last week after a decade as speaker that saw him become a central player in Britain’s Brexit drama.