Kidnapped American Journalist Released

BAGHDAD (AP) — American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped in Baghdad last week, has been released. That’s according to two Iraqi officials with direct knowledge of the situation. The officials say Kittleson was freed in the afternoon but did not share information about her current whereabouts beyond saying that prior to her release, she had been held in Baghdad. The powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement earlier in the day that it had decided to free the journalist. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In Wisconsin, Kittleson’s mother said her daughter was not yet free and declined to comment further.