At least 75 people died today when a car bomb exploded near a Shia mosque in a busy commercial district of Baghdad after a period of relative calm in the Iraqi capital.

The US military has said 10,000 US and Iraqi troops are taking part in a major operation against militants linked to al-Qaeda north of the capital, Baghdad.

Pregnant Iraqi women who have been forced from their homes by worsening violence are obtaining illegal abortions because they are unable to get medical care for themselves and their unborn, according to a new report by a national humanitarian group.