BAGHDAD // A wave of bombings tore through Baghdad yesterday, killing 57 people on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion.
The attacks showed how unstable Iraq remains more than a year after the withdrawal of American troops.
Violence has ebbed sharply since the peak of fighting between Sunnis and Shiites that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007.
But insurgents are still able to launch such attacks, as sectarian and ethnic rivalries continue to undermine national unity.
Yesterday's apparently coordinated attacks included car bombs and explosives stuck underneath vehicles.
They targeted government security forces and mainly Shiite areas, small restaurants, day labourers and bus stops for more than two hours, police and hospital officials say.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, but they bore hallmarks of Al Qaeda in Iraq. The terror group, which uses car bombs and coordinated attacks to undermine public confidence in the government, has sought to reassert its presence in recent weeks.
The violence started about 8am, when a bomb exploded outside a popular restaurant in Baghdad's Mashtal neighbourhood, killing four people, police and hospital officials said. It blew out the restaurant's windows and left several cars mangled in the blood-streaked street.
Minutes later, a roadside bomb hit a meeting point for day labourers in the New Baghdad area, killing two of them.
The sprawling Shiite slum district of Sadr City was hit by three explosions that killed 10 people, including three commuters on a minibus.
Hussein Abdul Khaliq, a government employee who lives in Sadr City, said he heard an explosion and went out to find the minibus on fire.
"We helped take some trapped women and children from outside the burning bus before the arrival of the rescue teams," Mr Abdul Khaliq said.
"Our clothes were covered with blood as we tried to rescue the trapped people or to move out the bodies. Today's attacks are new proof that the politicians and security officials are a huge failure."
The deadliest attack was a 10am car bombing near the ministry of labour and social affairs in Baghdad's eastern Qahira neighbourhood, which killed seven people.
Another car exploded outside a restaurant near one of the main gates to the fortified Green Zone, which houses major government offices and the US and British embassies, killing six people, including two soldiers. Thick, black smoke could be seen rising from the area as ambulances raced to the scene.
Just north of the capital, a mortar shell landed near a clinic north of Baghdad in Taji, killing two people, while a roadside bomb hit an army patrol in Tarmiyah, killing a soldier.
A car bomb also exploded near a bus stop south of the capital in Iskandiriyah, leaving five people dead.
Attacks elsewhere in Baghdad killed 20 people in the mainly Shiite neighbourhoods of Hussainiyah, Zafarniyah, Kazimiyah, Shula and Utaifiya.
The symbolism of yesterday's attacks was strong, coming 10 years to the day after Washington launched the invasion of Iraq with a "shock and awe" campaign of airstrikes on March 19, 2003.
The military action quickly ousted Saddam Hussein but led to years of bloodshed as Sunni and Shiite militants battled US forces and each other, leaving nearly 4,500 Americans and more than 100,000 Iraqis killed.
A decade later, Iraq's long-term stability and the strength of its democracy are open questions.
The country is unquestionably freer and more democratic than it was during Saddam's murderous reign.
But instead of a solidly pro-US regime, the Iraqis have a Shiite-led government that is arguably closer to Tehran than Washington and faces the anger of the Sunni minority that was dominant under Saddam.
Underscoring the political tensions, Iraq's cabinet decided yesterday to delay elections in two provinces dominated by Sunnis for up to six months.
The two provinces, Anbar and Ninevah, have been at the centre of protests against the Iraqi government for almost three months. Provincial elections were scheduled for April 20.
The decision followed requests from the political blocs in the provinces, the government spokesman Ali Al Moussawi said.
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
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The essentials
What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
When: Friday until March 9
Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.
Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.
Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Watford v Leicester City (3.30pm)
Brighton v Arsenal (6pm)
West Ham v Wolves (8.30pm)
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (10.45pm)
Sunday
Newcastle United v Sheffield United (5pm)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (7.15pm)
Everton v Liverpool (10pm)
Monday
Manchester City v Burnley (11pm)
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
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The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
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• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Scoreline
Bournemouth 2
Wilson 70', Ibe 74'
Arsenal 1
Bellerin 52'
