The Latest Breaking News from Baghdad

Iraq temporarily closed Baghdad airport Monday as choking clouds of dust blanketed the capital, the latest crippling sandstorm in a country that has warned climate change poses an "existential threat". It was the tenth such storm since mid-April to hit Iraq, which has been battered by intense droughts, soil degradation,…

The decision to cancel a concert by renowned Moroccan artist Saad Lamjarred in Baghdad has sparked a heated debate in Iraq over the country's civil or religious identity. The constitution defines Iraq as a civil state and defends its freedoms, but that has not stopped religious groups from intervening and…

Jim Fitton was sentenced to 15 years in prison at a court in Baghdad on Monday.

A British citizen was sentenced Monday by an Iraqi court to 15 years in prison on charges of smuggling artifacts out of the country, in a case that has attracted international attention. The verdict handed down to retired geologist Jim Fitton, shocked the court in Baghdad, including his defense attorney.

Iraq has reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, on a farm southeast of Baghdad, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said on Friday. The outbreak last month at the poultry farm in the province of Wasit killed 24,060 birds out of a…

Outgoing Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi slammed on Monday the scourge of drugs in Iraq. During a meeting with senior security leaders in Iraq on Monday, he said the phenomenon has for years raised deep popular and official concerns given its rapid spread in the country, especially in southern governorates. Addressing…

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi affirmed that strengthening the partnership with regional countries will boost regional integration and enhance the ability to confront common environmental challenges. Kadhimi received the Iranian Vice President and Head of the Environmental Protection Organization, Ali Salajegheh, visiting Baghdad. The PM said that the historical relations…

Four people were killed and at least eight people, including foreign workers, were injured after a building that housed a restaurant collapsed Sunday morning in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, medical and security sources told AFP. A Civil Defense source told the news agency that the two-story building collapsed as…

Salah Chelab crushed a husk of wheat plucked from his sprawling farmland south of Baghdad and inspected its seeds in the palm of one hand. They were several grams lighter than he hoped. "It’s because of the water shortages," he said, the farm machine roaring behind him, cutting and gathering…