BAGHDAD // Suicide bombers attacked Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad as well as a primary school and police station in a Shiite village in northern Iraq on Sunday, killing at least 24 people, officials said.
The blasts came a day after 73 people died in a series of attacks across the country, including a suicide bomb in a cafe.
Violence is at a level unseen since 2008, amid persistent fears of a relapse into the kind of intense Sunni-Shiite bloodshed that peaked in 2006-2007 and killed tens of thousands of people.
In the capital, a suicide bomber detonated explosives near pilgrims who were walking to a shrine in the north of the city to commemorate the death of Imam Mohammed Al Jawad, the ninth Shiite imam.
The blast killed at least nine people and wounded at least 30, officials said.
A bus parked near the site of the explosion had a streak of blood running from a shattered window down its side.
Body parts hung from a roadside tree, and blood was spattered on a pavement and the underside of a bridge.
Two young boys sifted through debris at the site, where items including sandals and a policeman’s belt buckle lay in a pool of water formed when emergency personnel hosed the street down.
“We are not afraid of the explosion, we are not afraid of death,” said Hussein Haidar, a pilgrim who was walking to the shrine after the attack.
Even after the blast, security forces performed only cursory searches of people entering the area.
Iraq is home to some of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam, and millions of pilgrims visit them each year.
But crowds of pilgrims are frequently targeted by Sunni militants including those linked to Al Qaeda, who consider Shiites to be apostates.
Two more suicide bombers on Sunday targeted the Turkmen Shiite village of Qabak in Nineveh province about 50 kilometres from the border with Syria.
The bombers detonated explosives-rigged vehicles at a police station and a primary school, killing 15 people and wounding 44, local official Abdulal Abbas said.
The dead included 10 children and five police, Mr Abbas said, adding that the school bombing collapsed the building’s roof.
In Iraq, almost nothing is safe from attack by militants.
They have struck highly secure targets such as prisons, and also bombed cafes, markets, mosques, football fields, weddings and funerals.
UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov yesterday called on Iraq’s “political, religious and civil leaders to work together with the security forces” to curb the bloodshed.
“It is their responsibility to ensure that pilgrims can practise their religious duties, that schoolchildren can attend their classes, that journalists can exercise their professional duties, and that ordinary citizens can live a normal life,” Mr Mladenov said.
Meanwhile, British Ambassador Simon Collis said: “This latest example of violence against worshippers and journalists is further evidence of terrorists seeking to create division within Iraq.”
Diplomats and analysts say the Shiite-led government’s failure to address the grievances of Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority — which complains of political exclusion and abuses by security forces — has driven the surge in unrest.
Violence worsened sharply after security forces stormed a Sunni Arab anti-government protest camp in northern Iraq on April 23, sparking clashes in which dozens died.
The authorities have made some concessions aimed at placating anti-government protesters and Sunnis in general, such as freeing prisoners and raising the salaries of Sunni anti-Al Qaeda fighters, but underlying issues remain.
And while security forces have carried out wide-ranging operations against militants for more than two months, they have yet to succeed in curbing the wave of attacks.
The latest violence takes this month’s death toll to at least 160, and more than 4,850 since the beginning of the year, according to figures tallied from security and medical sources.
*Agence France-Presse
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
'Lost in Space'
Creators: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Irwin Allen
Stars: Molly Parker, Toby Stephens, Maxwell Jenkins
Rating: 4/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
(All games 4-3pm kick UAE time) Bayern Munich v Augsburg, Borussia Dortmund v Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin, Wolfsburg v Mainz , Eintracht Frankfurt v Freiburg, Union Berlin v RB Leipzig, Cologne v Schalke , Werder Bremen v Borussia Monchengladbach, Stuttgart v Arminia Bielefeld
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Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
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The specs
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Power: 400hp
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On sale: Now
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
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Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
%3Cp%3EThe%20Department%20of%20Culture%20and%20Tourism%20-%20Abu%20Dhabi%E2%80%99s%20Arabic%20Language%20Centre%20will%20mark%20International%20Women%E2%80%99s%20Day%20at%20the%20Bologna%20Children's%20Book%20Fair%20with%20the%20Abu%20Dhabi%20Translation%20Conference.%20Prolific%20Emirati%20author%20Noora%20Al%20Shammari%2C%20who%20has%20written%20eight%20books%20that%20%20feature%20in%20the%20Ministry%20of%20Education's%20curriculum%2C%20will%20appear%20in%20a%20session%20on%20Wednesday%20to%20discuss%20the%20challenges%20women%20face%20in%20getting%20their%20works%20translated.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
No.6 Collaborations Project
Ed Sheeran (Atlantic)
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Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
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Total funding: Self funded
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
THE SPECS
Aston Martin Rapide AMR
Engine: 6.0-litre V12
Transmission: Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic
Power: 595bhp
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Price: Dh999,563