Latest Iraq government News
Iraqi Christian religious leaders demand an international investigation into deadly wedding fire
BAGHDAD (AP) — Christian religious leaders in northern Iraq called for an international investigation Monday into a deadly wedding fire that killed more than 100 people last week and slammed the government’s probe, which had blamed the blaze on negligence and lack of precautionary measures. ...
Iraq's prime minister visits wedding fire victims as 2 more people die from their injuries
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister on Thursday visited injured patients and the families of victims in northern Iraq days after a deadly wedding fire killed around 100 people, as two more people died from their injuries and additional remains were recovered. Mohammed Shia...
Fire rips through Iraqi wedding hall, killing around 100 in shock to Christian community
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — As they watched the bride and groom start their slow dance, Faten Youssef imagined the future wedding of her son, seated next to her at a reception table. Within moments, however, disaster struck when an inferno erupted that would leave nearly 100 dead in the northern Iraqi...
Iraq's president will summon the Turkish ambassador over airstrikes in Iraq's Kurdish region
BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi president announced Tuesday that he will summon Turkey’s ambassador and hand him a formal letter of protest over recent Turkish airstrikes on Iraqi territory. The official protest came a day after an airstrike on a military airport in Arbat, southeast of...
At the request of Baghdad, UN will end in 1 year its probe of Islamic State extremists in Iraq
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Security Council on Friday voted unanimously to end, a year from now, a U.N. probe into activities of Islamic State extremists in Iraq. The vote came at the request of the Iraqi government. The U.K.-sponsored resolution noted that Baghdad also asked that...
Iraq steps up repatriations from Islamic State camp in Syria, hoping to reduce militant threats
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq is stepping up repatriation of its citizens from a camp in northeastern Syria housing tens of thousands of people, mostly wives and children of Islamic State fighters but also supporters of the militant group. It’s a move that Baghdad hopes will reduce...
US should use its influence to help win the freedom of a scholar missing in Iraq, her sister says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States should use its influence to help win the freedom of a Russian-Israeli academic at Princeton University who went missing in Iraq nearly six months ago and is believed to be held by an Iran-backed militia regarded by Washington as a terrorist group, her sister...
Clashes in Iraq's Kirkuk over handover of police HQ to Kurds leave 1 dead, several injured
BAGHDAD (AP) — Demonstrations in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk over the handover of a key facility from federal to local Kurdish authorities turned violent Saturday, and one protester was killed and several were injured, witnesses and local officials said. Clashes broke out...
Rainbows, drag shows, movies: Lebanon's leaders go after perceived symbols of the LGBTQ+ community
BEIRUT (AP) — Rainbows, school books, movies and drag shows have all been targeted in Lebanon in recent weeks as politicians, religious leaders and vigilante groups step up a campaign against the LGBTQ+ community in a country that has long shown relative tolerance. At a time when...
Tehran and Baghdad reach a deal to disarm and relocate Iranian dissident groups based in north Iraq
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iran and Iraq have reached an agreement to disarm members of Iranian Kurdish dissident groups based in northern Iraq and relocate their members from their current bases, officials from the two countries said Monday. Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman for Iran’s Foreign...
