IRAQ:  Officials announced Monday that at least seven people, including a child, were killed over the weekend when the ceiling of a Shia shrine in central Iraq was destroyed by a landslide. Rescuers are still looking for survivors.

About 80 kilometres  south of Baghdad, in the holy city of Karbala, a landslide damaged the Qattarat al-Imam Ali shrine on Saturday.

Iraq's civil defence claims that the landslide struck the shrine's ceiling, which is located in a natural depression, forcing it to collapse and unleashing a torrent of debris and mud inside the building. The shrine, which was constructed on a dried-up water source, still had its entrance, walls, and minarets surviving.

Four women, two men, and a kid were among the dead, according to the civil defence, which also noted that six people had been saved by search crews. On Monday, rescuers were attempting to clear the debris and look for survivors while using a bulldozer.

The civil defence attributed the landslide's cause to high humidity, which was not immediately understood. The provincial governor of Karbala, Nassif Gassim al-Khatabi, announced on Sunday that the shrine area would be shut down while an inquiry was conducted.

A footbridge collapsed and caused a stampede in Karbala in 2019 as thousands of Shia Muslims observed Ashoura, one of the most serious days in their holy calendar, killing at least 31 pilgrims and injuring about 100 others.
A protracted power struggle between opposing Shia blocs in Iraq has made it harder for the country's caretaker administration to provide basic services.

Kuwaiti militant group accuses the US Air Force of being the target of a "propaganda attack."

Iraq PM urges rival parties to solve political deadlock through talks

Iraq calls rival parties to solve political deadlock via dialogue