Heavy sandstorm blankets Baghdad, filling emergency wards, delaying oil bidding

October 7th, 2009 Investor wants Sun-Times bidding process reopenedCHICAGO — There's no one else interested in buying the Chicago Sun-Times. Or is there? A Chicago-area investor wants a bankruptcy court to reopen bidding for the parent company of the Chicago Sun-Times.

October 5th, 2009 BAGHDAD - Two policemen were killed and four others injured in two separate attacks in the Iraqi capital Sunday, police said. In one incident, a bomb went off near a police vehicle on the al-Muttabag street in eastern Baghdad, killing a policeman and wounding four others.

August 21st, 2009 BAGHDAD - A car bomb explosion in a market in southern Baghdad claimed the lives of two people and wounded 20 others on Friday. Baghdad police said the blast took place in the Dora neighbourhood at around 8.00 a.m.

August 19th, 2009 BAGHDAD - A series of explosions shook central Baghdad Wednesday morning, witnesses said. Heavy black smoke filled the air over the city centre and emergency vehicles rushed to the scene.

August 19th, 2009 BAGHDAD — Hospital and medical officials say a series of explosions targeting government and commercial buildings in Baghdad killed at least 75 people and wounded more than 300. The attacks started shortly after 10 a.m.

August 5th, 2009 BAGHDAD - Five policemen were killed and three injured Wednesday when a bomb targeted their patrol in southern Baghdad, a police source said. The bomb was planted on a road in al-Athouriyeen neighbourhood in al-Doura, Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported.

July 26th, 2009 Iraq pulls Basra gas field from bidding roundBAGHDAD — Iraq has removed a small gas field in Basra from a list of 11 oil and gas fields being offered for development in its second round of postwar bidding. A top Iraqi official overseeing oil and gas licenses said Sunday that Iraq's state-run South Oil Co.

July 17th, 2009 State Dept. security chopper crashes in IraqWASHINGTON — The State Department says a helicopter used to protect U.S. diplomats in Baghdad has crashed outside the Iraqi capital and a U.S.

July 8th, 2009 EMC buys Data Domain, NetApp drops out of biddingA bidding war over data storage company Data Domain is over, with EMC emerging as the victor. Data Domain Inc.

June 30th, 2009 BAGHDAD - A group led by British Petroleum (BP) Tuesday won rights to develop Iraq's Rumaila oil field, the largest of six oil fields on offer in a two-day bidding war in Baghdad. BP and China's CNPC won the rights to develop the field in cooperation with Iraqi partners in a process that has pitted 32 of the world's largest oil companies against each other.

June 30th, 2009 Iraq oil auction fizzlesBAGHDAD — The first international bidding process in more than 30 years for development rights to some of Iraq's oil fields has finished, with only one field being awarded. Iraq had offered six oil and two gas fields in a landmark auction the government hoped would help boost output to 4 million barrels per day and generate cash it desperately needs for postwar reconstruction.

June 28th, 2009 Iraq steps up security ahead of US city withdrawalBAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces bolstered checkpoints and banned motorcycles from the streets of Baghdad as they prepared Sunday for more violence before this week's withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from the capital and other cities and towns.

June 28th, 2009 Heavy sandstorm blankets BaghdadBAGHDAD — A heavy sandstorm has blanketed Iraq's capital, closing the Baghdad airport and sending dozens of people to the hospital with respiratory problems. Visibility is only a few yards (meters) and most of the few people on the streets are wearing surgical masks.

June 22nd, 2009 BAGHDAD - Eight people were killed and 50 wounded in a car bomb blast and a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad Monday, an official said. At least five people were killed and some 20 others wounded when a booby-trapped car detonated in Baghdad central district in Karrada, the official said on condition of anonymity.

April 8th, 2009 BAGHDAD - US President Barack Obama left Baghdad after a brief, previously unannounced visit to Baghdad late Tuesday evening. Obama had spent some four hours in Baghdad, meeting with US forces while also holding talks with Iraqi leaders, including President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.