BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Hundreds of Iraqis took part in scattered demonstrations on Sunday, calling for an improvement in basic services and the resignation of local government officials as unrest sweeps much of the Arab world.

In Baghdad, around 250 people gathered in the impoverished district of Bab al-Sham to protest against a lack of services. “It is a tragedy. Even during the Middle Ages, people were not living in this situation,” said engineer Furat al-Janabi.

ISTANBUL, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Iraq’s $12 billion deal with
Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Japan’s Mitsubishi (8058.T: Quote, Profile, Research) to
capture gas from oilfields could be finalised in February,
Deputy Prime Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said on Wednesday.

Cabinet approval would then only take a few weeks,
Shahristani told Reuters in an interview in Istanbul.

ISTANBUL, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Iraq is very close to resuming
crude oil exports from the Kurdish region with the initial flow
expected at 10,000 barrels per day from the Tawke field, the
government and regional officials said on Wednesday.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Hussain al-Shahristani told
Reuters that oil exports had begun to flow at 10,000 barrels per
day, but regional oil officials said so far they were still in
the final stages of preparing to start exports.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A car bomb exploded at a funeral wake in a Shi’ite area of Iraq’s capital on Thursday, killing at least 35 people, wounding dozens and triggering clashes between angry residents and police, health and security sources said.

The blast capped a bloody two weeks as suspected insurgents challenge Iraq’s security forces ahead of the withdrawal this year of U.S. troops and try to undermine the newly reappointed Shi’ite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A car bomb exploded at a funeral wake in a Shi’ite area of Iraq’s capital on Thursday, killing at least 35 people, wounding dozens and triggering clashes between angry residents and police, health and security sources said.

The blast capped a bloody two weeks as suspected insurgents challenge Iraq’s security forces ahead of the withdrawal this year of U.S. troops and try to undermine the newly reappointed Shi’ite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – In Baghdad’s southeastern industrial zone of Zaafaraniya, former storage manager Abdullah Salih sits outside an idled soft drink bottling plant, waiting for the day when it might open again.

The Al-Reem plant closed down because it was not getting enough electricity from the public power grid to survive and could no longer afford to pay for private generators and still compete against foreign-made imports.

BAGHDAD, Jan 21 (Reuters) – French engineering group Alstom
(ALSO.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has signed an outline agreement with Iraq to build a
metro line above Baghdad’s streets, an official said.

Shaker al-Zamili, the head of Baghdad Investment Commission,
said on Thursday Iraqi officials signed a memorandum of
understanding with Alstom in France last week.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Bombers killed at least 45 Shi’ite pilgrims in Iraq on Wednesday and also struck police for a third day in a row, in a wave of violence posing a challenge to Iraqi security forces as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw.

More than 100 people have died and hundreds have been wounded since Tuesday in bomb attacks that bear the hallmarks of Sunni Arab insurgents, showing they remain a potent threat even as Washington prepares to remove its final troops this year.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – At least 48 people were killed in Iraq on Thursday in bombings targeting Shi’ite pilgrims and police, a third day of bloodshed that posed a challenge to Iraqi security forces as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw.

Most of the dead were pilgrims pouring into the holy Shi’ite city of Kerbala ahead of the culmination of a major religious rite which is regularly attacked by Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – After another sleepless night drenched by winter rains, Nahla Kadhim spent the morning scooping water off the floor of her two-room shack in the Iraqi capital’s northeastern slum of Sadr City.

The makeshift hovel is made of bricks and cinder blocks, topped with a piece of corrugated metal. A tangle of electricity wires hangs on the walls. The windows have no glass, and the kitchen has no door. It has no running water or a sewage system.