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Abu Dhabi, UAEWednesday 14 April 2021

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An Iraqi man sells food at the Shorja market in central Baghdad on April 12, 2021 ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan after the easing of the curfew imposed by authorities amid the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. / AFP / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

Iraqis will observe Ramadan amid partial lockdown and soaring prices
President Barham Salih receiving Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi at Salam Palace in the capital Baghdad. AFP

Iraqi president announces early elections in October

Iraq
Prime Minister of Iraq Mustafa Al Kadhimi, accompanied by the government delegation, visits the site of the Al Faw Grand Port and the breakwater. Iraqi PMO twitter.

Iraq lays cornerstone for next phase of Grand Port of Al Faw project in Basra

Iraq
Personnel check the first shipment of the Pfizer's vaccine against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) at Baghdad International Airport, in Baghdad, Iraq April 11, 2021. Reuters

Iraq receives first shipment of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine as cases soar

Iraq
IN DEPTH
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, welcomes Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi upon his arrival in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The Emirates pledged $3bn of investment commitments to Iraq. AFP

Iraq's plan to diversify regional trade relations aims to fend off Iran's influence

Iraq
Elections, due to be held in November, will not include the votes of overseas voters. AFP

Iraqi president says early elections will go ahead despite insecurity

Iraq
Pope Francis is accompanied by Iraq's President Barham Salih and his wife Sarbagh Salih before departing for Rome, at Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad, Iraq March 8, 2021. Reuters

Pope Francis visit to Iraq portrays concept of coexistence, Barham Salih says

Iraq
Pope Francis waves to the crowd as he arrives to hold a Mass at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Erbil, Iraq. Getty

US Chaldeans thrilled by Pope’s visit to Iraq

The Americas
Young artists like Rossel Ahmed Mohammed hope their murals will help Mosul heal after the horrors of life under ISIS. 

Meet the young street artists helping to heal Mosul’s wounds
Shiite Muslim pilgrims gather outside the Shrine of Imam Mohammed al-Mahdi during the Shaabaniya ceremony, marking the middle of the Islamic month of Shaban and two weeks before the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, and on which Twelver Shiites commemorate the birth of Imam Mahdi (the sect's final Imam), in Iraq's central holy shrine city of Karbala on March 28, 2021. / AFP / Mohammed SAWAF

Iraqi Shiite Muslims gather at holy shrine - in pictures
Members of the Iraqi Counter-terrorism Service (ICTS) are deployed in the streets of the capital Baghdad on March 27, 2021, days after a military parade by an armed faction loyal to Iran. On March 25, masked gunmen in a convoy of pick-ups drove through the Iraqi capital staging a show of force against Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi who has proposed a new dialogue with Washington. Militants of the Rabaa Allah group brandished mocking portraits of the prime minister, who is seen as pro-American, and other government officials showing their faces trampled underfoot. Rabaa Allah is the newest and most powerful of a myriad of pro-Iran groups in Iraq. It is seen by experts as a cover for Kataeb Hezbollah which has been integrated into the Iraqi security forces, giving it leeway to oppose the official line. / AFP / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

Iraqi Counter-terrorism Service deploy in Baghdad - in pictures
A worker unloads imported corn at the southern Iraqi port of Umm Qasr near Basra, on March 14, 2021. AFP 

Life in the port city of Umm Qasr, Iraq's maritime gateway - in pictures
epa08673114 Jobless graduates wear hard hats and fluro vests during a protest near the green zone in central Baghdad, Iraq, 16 September 2020. Thousands of university graduates and jobless continue their protests against the lack of job opportunities and basic services, near the heavily fortified Green Zone which houses the Iraqi government offices in Baghdad. EPA-EFE/AHMED JALIL *** Local Caption *** 56346531

Beyond the Headlines: Cash for jobs in Iraq's government
A man visits the al-Malwiya minaret at the Al-Mutawakkil Mosque in Samarra, Iraq, Friday, March 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

From Samarra to Basra, daily life of Iraqis - in pictures
Salma Mohsen, 10, poses for a photo holding a truffle, in the desert in Samawa, Iraq, February 23, 2021. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani SEARCH "TRUFFLES SAMAWA" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

Hunting for truffles in Iraq's Samawa desert - in pictures
Iraqi Mandaeans perform a ritual on the banks of the Tigris River in Baghdad on March 15, 2021. Mandaeans traditionally speak a variety of Aramaic, the language of Christ. They call Adam their prophet and revere John the Baptist -- "saba" is Aramaic for baptise, "manda" means knowledge. They trace their roots to pre-Christian times and some scholars believe the sect was a heretical branch of Judaism that spread south through the land of the two rivers, or Mesopotamia, in the second century AD / AFP / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

Iraqi Mandaeans perform baptism rituals during the Benja festival - in pictures
TOPSHOT - An employee stands at the Hammar Mushrif new Degassing Station Facilities site inside the Zubair oil and gas field, north of the southern Iraqi province of Basra on May 9, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / HAIDAR MOHAMMED ALI

GE reaches financial close on Iraqi power sector overhaul

Energy
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, right, greets Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary General of the Arab League, in Baghdad. AP

Iraq backs Syria returning to Arab League

Iraq
Audience members attend a performance by the Watar orchestral ensemble at the partially restored Al Rabea Theatre in Mosul, Iraq on April 8, 2021. AFP

Mosul orchestra performs in restored Al Rabea Theatre

Iraq
A US soldier at Qayyarah air base in Iraq. AFP 

US and Iraq hint at American combat troop withdrawal

World
Former Iraqi prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. Getty

Former Iraqi prime minister faces lawsuit for ‘crimes against humanity’

Iraq
There are 60,000 refugees in the Al Hawl camp on the Syria-Iraq border. AFP

Coalition deputy commander: ISIS prisoners could sow seeds of a new form of violent extremism

Asia
A member of the Kurdish Peshmerga militia faces ISIS positions in Diyala, Iraq. AFP

As US and Iraq talk, fight against ISIS continues

Iraq
People clear landmines in Basra, Iraq. Reuters

Campaigners push Biden to dump Trump-era landmine policy

The Americas
Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said the US-Iraqi strategic dialogue, due to start on Wednesday, would benefit both parties. Reuters

US dialogue with Iraq will serve mutual interests, says Baghdad

Iraq
Members of the Iraqi Counter-terrorism Service patrol the streets of Baghdad on March 27, 2021. Iraq will discuss the US military posture in the country at the strategic dialogue with Washington beginning April 7. AFP 

Biden looks for continuity in Iraq as US hosts strategic dialogue

World
An nurse prepares a Covid-19 vaccine at a clinic in Baghdad. Iraq reported more than 7,000 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday. AP

Iraq reports record number of new Covid-19 cases

Iraq
Bahrain players and staff celebrate their Gulf Cup of Nations triumph in 2019 in Qatar. Reuters

Officials in Iraq to check on progress of 25th Gulf Cup preparations

Football
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