Iraq

A car bomb blast has killed 13 people and wounded 50 others at a vegetable market in Baghdad, police and medical sources say.

At least 35 people have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack in a busy square in Iraq's capital, Baghdad.

Two bombs have exploded in central Baghdad, killing at least 28 and wounding more than 50, officials say.

A mass grave containing the remains of about 100 beheaded civilians has been discovered inside a school in a town south of Mosul.

Iraqi forces have battled their way into another suburb of Mosul, as the UN points to growing evidence of IS atrocities in the city.

New Zealand's military role in Iraq is to be expanded, with the government giving approval for troops to offer training at a third military base.

Iraqi forces have for the first time entered the eastern outskirts of Mosul, as they attempt to drive Islamic State militants from the northern city.

Iraqi special forces are now less than 1.5km from the eastern outskirts of Mosul and are preparing to enter the city held by Islamic State fighters.

Two Yazidi women who escaped sexual enslavement by so-called Islamic State in Iraq have won Europe's top human rights award, the Sakharov prize.

Islamic State has executed dozens of people in a town south of Mosul, to deter any attempt to support the US-led offensive on the city, Iraqi army officials say.

In Focus - Labour Party leader Andrew Little tells Morning Report he would not renew any New Zealand commitment to training Iraqi troops but there may be a useful role in other areas. Video

The New Zealand contingent in Iraq will eventually switch from training Iraqi troops to training local police, Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee says. Video, Audio

Kurdish Peshmerga forces are within 9km of the Iraqi city of Mosul, in the seventh day of the campaign to wrest it back from Islamic State.

Iraqi army troops have stormed into a Christian region that has been under Islamic State control since 2014, as part of US-backed operations to clear the entrances to Mosul.

Prime Minister John Key is denying New Zealand is involved in a combat role in Iraq, saying a media report suggesting otherwise is just plain wrong.

Islamic State has launched a major attack on Kirkuk as forces push in around Mosul, preparing to attack the jihadists' last major Iraq stronghold.

Residents returning to villages retaken from Islamic State in the battle for the Iraqi city of Mosul have found tunnels rigged with explosives.

New Zealand has offered $1 million to help civilians affected by the fight to free the Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic State, now in its second day.