Britain’s weekend handover of Basra province will have a limited effect on security in Iraq’s biggest oil region because rival Shiite warlords and local officials have been wielding the real power in the area.

A controversial new study contends that nearly 655,000 have died because of the Iraq conflict, suggesting a far higher death toll than other estimates.

A series of attacks in eastern Baghdad this evening killed at least 39 people and wounded 115 within half an hour, police said.

Trying to build support for Iraq war strategy, President George Bush acknowledged today that reconstruction has proceeded with “fits and starts” but spreading economic progress is lifting people’s hopes for a democratic future.

With a few carefully worded phrases, the US military is apparently stepping back from its strict demands on ending the siege of Fallujah, creating an opening for an Iraqi force to take control of the city from 1,000 or more guerrilla holdouts.