Officials say dozens of passengers are missing after two motorboats collided in the Nile in northern Egypt today.

Large explosions rocked the capital of Iraq today, apparently an artillery barrage in the south of the city.

An uneasy silence cloaked the streets of Baghdad today at the start of a two-day vehicle ban aimed at preventing attacks during a major Shiite religious gathering. Seven pilgrims hoping to join the rally were shot dead in a Sunni neighbourhood.