Latest Baghdad News
Iraqi merchants struggle on amid series of strong sandstorms
BAGHDAD (AP) — The thick layer of dust blanketing the sky did not deter Muhammed Ghalib from walking to work in Baghdad’s main commercial district on Monday, as the latest in an unrelenting series of intense sandstorms swept Iraq. The dust coated his eyelashes a shade of orange....
Briton, German deny smuggling antiquities in Iraq court
BAGHDAD (AP) — A British and a German tourist accused of smuggling ancient shards out of Iraq appeared in a Baghdad court in yellow detainees' uniforms Sunday, telling judges they had not acted with criminal intent and had no idea they might have broken local laws. The trial of Jim...
British man found with ancient shards in Iraq to stand trial
BAGHDAD (AP) — A British national accused by Iraq of collecting small archaeological fragments will be tried next week on charges potentially punishable by death, his Baghdad lawyer said Wednesday. Retired geologist Jim Fitton, 66, was arrested in March at the Baghdad airport...
Sandstorm suspends flights, many Iraqis struggle to breathe
BAGHDAD (AP) — Hundreds of Iraqis rushed to hospitals with breathing problems Thursday and the Baghdad airport suspended flights for several hours as a thick sandstorm blanketed the country, the fifth to engulf Iraq within a month. Iraqi state media said most of the patients...
British man found with ancient shards could be tried in Iraq
BAGHDAD (AP) — A retired British geologist accused by Iraq of collecting small archaeological fragments had no criminal intent, his family said, expressing hopes the charges — potentially punishable by death — could be avoided. Jim Fitton, 66, was arrested last month at Baghdad...
Yazidis, displaced again, fear more strife in Iraqi homeland
ZAKHO, Iraq (AP) — Iraqis in a northern town still traumatized by memories of the Islamic State group feared more violence Tuesday after hostilities between the military and a local militia erupted, people internally displaced by the fighting said. Tensions reached a fever pitch...
Muslims mark Eid al-Fitr holiday with joy, worry
CAIRO (AP) — For the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the smell of freshly baked orange biscuits and powdered sugar-dusted cookies typically fills the air in Mona Abubakr’s home. But due to higher prices, the Egyptian housewife this year made smaller quantities of the sweet treats, some of which...
Thousands flee after clashes erupt in embattled Iraqi town
BAGHDAD (AP) — Thousands or people fled a northern Iraqi town amid fierce clashes between the army and a militia linked to a Kurdish separatist group, the military and local Iraqi Kurdish officials said Monday. At least 3,000 people left Sinjar and its surrounding areas, the...
Report: Iran, Saudis resume talks in Iraq after months
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran resumed talks with regional rival Saudi Arabia months after secret Baghdad-brokered talks were suspended, state-linked media reported Saturday. The Iranian news website Nournews, considered to be close to the country’s Supreme National Security Council,...
Rights group denounces violence against LGBT people in Iraq
BAGHDAD (AP) — A transgender woman said several men beat her up, threw her in a garbage bin, cut her and set her alight before she was rescued. A gay man said his boyfriend was killed before his eyes. A lesbian woman was stabbed in the leg and said she was warned to stop her “immoral...
