Latest Baghdad News

Muslim worshippers offer Eid al-Adha prayer at a park as mosques are limited for ten people following the government's measures to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, in the mixed Arab Jewish city of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, July 31, 2020. This is the first Feast of Sacrifice since the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic. The major Muslim holiday, at the end of the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, is observed around the world by believers and commemorates prophet Abraham's pledge to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Final days of hajj and Eid festival impacted by coronavirus

Jul. 31, 2020 7:01 PM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Small groups of people performed one of the final rites of the Islamic hajj on Friday as Muslims worldwide marked the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday amid a global pandemic that has impacted nearly every aspect of this year's pilgrimage and celebrations. The last days...

In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi wears a protective face mask to help prevent spread of the coronavirus a he gives a press briefing with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 21, 2020. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

Iraqi prime minister: Early elections to be held next June

Jul. 31, 2020 3:34 PM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq will hold early general elections next June, the country's prime minister announced Friday, fulfilling a promise made when he took office to meet a key demand of anti-government protesters. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said the June 6 vote will come a year earlier than scheduled....

Protesters burn tires during a demonstration demanding better public services and jobs in Basra, southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

Iraq: Since October, 560 protesters, police died in rallies

Jul. 30, 2020 3:54 PM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s government said Thursday that since last October when anti-government protests erupted in the country, a total of 560 protesters and members of the security forces have been killed in the violence. The figure was reported by Hisham Daoud, an advisor to Iraq’s prime...

In this photo released Tuesday, July 28, 2020, by Sepahnews, Revolutionary Guard's speed boats circle around a replica aircraft carrier during a military exercise. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has fired a missile from a helicopter targeting the mock-up aircraft carrier in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. That's according to footage aired on state television on Tuesday. Iranian commandos also fast-roped down from a helicopter onto the replica in the footage from the exercise called “Great Prophet 14.” The drill appears aimed at threatening the U.S. amid tensions between Tehran and Washington. (Sepahnews via AP)

Iran missiles target fake carrier as US bases go on alert

Jul. 28, 2020 3:45 PM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched missiles Tuesday targeting a mock aircraft carrier in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a drill that included such a barrage of fire the U.S. military temporarily put two regional bases in the Mideast on alert amid tensions...

Anti-government protesters gather by barriers near Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July, 27, 2020. Fresh violence erupted between demonstrators and Iraqi security forces in central Baghdad, human rights monitors and Iraqi security and health officials said on Monday, following months of quiet in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Iraq PM orders probe after 2 protesters killed in clashes

Jul. 27, 2020 4:13 PM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister said Monday he had ordered an investigation into the killing of two anti-government protesters, saying security forces were not authorized to fire “a single bullet” toward the demonstrators. Twenty-one protesters were also wounded in the overnight clashes....

Jobless graduates gather in front of the Ministry of Oil to demand jobs in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 20, 2020. In the Mideast, wave after wave of war, disease and economic collapse leaves this generation feeling hopeless. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Virus adds to deep despair felt by war-weary young Arabs

Jul. 27, 2020 8:31 AM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — At 24, Sama al-Diwani and her college sweetheart had big dreams. He was working on opening a bakery in Iraq. She was preparing to leave to England, where she would spend a year working on her masters’ degree in pharmacy. After that, they would reunite, get married and start a family....

Jobless graduates gather in front of the Ministry of Oil to demand jobs in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 20, 2020. In the Mideast, wave after wave of war, disease and economic collapse leaves this generation feeling hopeless. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Virus adds to deep despair felt by war-weary young Arabs

Jul. 26, 2020 4:03 AM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — At 24, Sama al-Diwani and her college sweetheart had big dreams. He was working on opening a bakery in Iraq. She was preparing to leave to England, where she would spend a year working on her masters’ degree in pharmacy. After that, they would reunite, get married and start a family....

CAPTION ADDITION ADDS SOURCE OF PHOTO - In this undated photo provided by Tower of Babel for Media Development, German national, Hella Mewis rides on a boat on the Tigris River, in Baghdad, Iraq. An Iraqi security official and human rights monitors said Tuesday, July 21, 2020, that Mewis was kidnapped Monday night in Baghdad outside the arts center where she works. The official said that Mewis was taken by armed men in two vehicles, citing ongoing investigations. She was well known in Iraq's art scene and an ardent supporter of mass anti-government protests. (Tower of Babel for Media Development via AP)

German curator abducted in Iraq freed in security operation

Jul. 24, 2020 2:52 PM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — A German arts curator abducted earlier this week in Iraq was freed on Friday in a raid by Iraqi security forces near the capital, Baghdad, officials said. Hella Mewis was freed in an early morning operation southeast of Baghdad, when security forces raided a location based on intelligence...

A member of the Shiite Imam Ali brigades militia prays by a body of a coronavirus victim during a funeral at the new Wadi al-Salam cemetery near Najaf, Iraq, Monday, July 20, 2020. A special burial ground near the Wadi al-Salam cemetery has been created specifically for COVID-19 victims since rejections of such burials have continued in Baghdad cemeteries and elsewhere in Iraq. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)

AP PHOTOS: Lonely burials for virus victims in Iraq's Najaf

Jul. 24, 2020 12:47 PM EDT

NAJAF, Iraq (AP) — Every chapter of Iraq’s modern history can be seen in the sprawling cemetery of Wadi al-Salam outside the holy city of Najaf. Its sandy expanse is growing, this time with coronavirus victims. A special burial ground near the cemetery has been created specifically for COVID-19...

In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani, right, welcomes Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi as they wear protective face masks to help prevent spread of the coronavirus, during an official arrival ceremony, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 21, 2020. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

Iran's president calls Iraqi premier's visit 'turning point'

Jul. 21, 2020 1:41 PM EDT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani called a visit Tuesday by the new prime minister of Iraq, where the U.S. military has a presence, “a turning point” in the countries' relations and vowed to continue supporting the neighboring Arab nation. Mustafa al-Kadhimi arrived...

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