Latest Baghdad News

Live updates | Israel says hostage release will not take place before Friday, as talks are ongoing
Israel’s national security adviser said late Wednesday that cease-fire talks with the Hamas militant group were still ongoing, and the hostage release will not take place before Friday. Tzachi Hanegbi gave no explanation for the delay, and it was not immediately clear when the cease-fire might...

Video purports to show Israeli-Russian researcher kidnapped in Iraq
WASHINGTON (AP) — A video broadcast on an Iraqi television station and circulated on pro-Iranian social media Monday purported to show an Israeli-Russian researcher who was allegedly kidnapped in Iraq, the first sign of life since her disappearance nearly eight months ago. No group...

US military shoots down missiles and drones as it faces growing threats in volatile Middle East
WASHINGTON (AP) — With tensions spiking in the Middle East, U.S. forces in the region are facing increasing threats as a Navy warship shot down missiles appearing to head toward Israel Thursday and American bases in Iraq and Syria were repeatedly targeted by drone attacks. Later, a...

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...
