From all places, the front page of the NY Times:
All the same, much has improved since residents first returned to a nearly deserted city almost three months ago.
On a tour of the city’s central neighborhoods with an American convoy, civilian cars and taxis could be seen cruising the streets. Customers shopped at fruit and vegetable markets, and a crowd waited outside a new branch of the Rafidain Bank.
At the Palestine School, where classes started again two months ago, the cheerful shrieks of students could be heard in the hallways.
“Things are almost back to normal here,” said the headmaster, Samer Eyd Jawhar, 60, a portly man in a light blue jacket and tie. “We have teachers and books. Things are getting better.”
Everywhere, there are complaints about the strict military control of the city. Najim Abed, the director of an emergency clinic, said its one ambulance often has trouble getting in and out of the city. It is also hard to reach patients at night, because the ambulance must be accompanied by a military patrol, he said.
Read the whole thing- there are problems, but the place is improving.