The Latest Breaking News from Baghdad

In the stores and buses of Iraq masks are rare even as Covid-19 spreads widely, vaccines are viewed with suspicion and the sick see hospitals as a last resort. At Al-Shifaa Hospital in the capital Baghdad, the ramifications are clear, reported AFP. "More than 95 percent of those sick with…

In Baghdad, advertisement is rife for private banks safeguarded by concrete walls and security detail. But it is hard to find a single customer using these banks for any financial transactions. These newly formed institutions hide part of a complex financial “cartel” for smuggling and money laundering. On February 17,…

Thousands of foreign documents, uncovered by a Saudi researcher specialized in Saudi history, revealed important aspects that characterized the first central state in the Arabian Peninsula, which was founded by Imam Muhammad bin Saud. With King Salman’s announcement that February 22 will be known as Founding Day, commemorating Saudi heritage…

The U.N. Security Council  has voted unanimously to end Iraq’s requirement to compensate victims of its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, with Baghdad having paid out $52.4 billion to 1.5 million claimants

The Kurdish artist draws on Baghdad’s miniature tradition, self-portraiture, plant bacteria and neurosculpting for artworks that provoke a gut reaction

Criticism by Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi against Sadrist movement leader cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Deputy parliament Speaker Hakim al-Zamili has sparked wide debate in the country. It marked the first time a minister openly criticizes Sadr, who enjoys a very loyal support base in the millions in Baghdad…

Iraqi President Barham Salih stressed on Thursday the need to launch "serious and immediate" dialogue between the federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region government in wake of the Supreme Court's ruling on the region's oil policy. A surprise ruling by the court on Tuesday cast doubt on the…

A surprise ruling by Iraq's high court cast doubt on the legal foundations of the independent oil policy of Iraq's Kurdish-run region and threatened to drive a political wedge between the two governments, officials warned Wednesday. Iraq's Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down the legal justifications for the semi-autonomous region's…

A $27-billion deal between France’s Total and Iraq, that Baghdad hoped would reverse the exit of oil majors from the country, has stalled amid disputes over terms and risks being scrapped by the country's new government. Iraq has struggled to attract major fresh investments into its energy industry since signing…

The next leader of ISIS is likely to be from a close circle of battle-hardened Iraqi extremists who emerged in the aftermath of the 2003 US invasion, two Iraqi security officials and three independent analysts said. The group of potential successors to Abu Ibrahim al-Quraishi, who blew himself up during…

The tribes of Iraq's al-Anbar warned on Sunday against attempts to destabilize the province. Earlier, a military convoy of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) rode into the province, prompting the warning. Ahmed Abu Risha, head of the Awakening (Sahwa) National Council, warned PMF leader Faleh Fayad that the Anbar tribes…