Strained to breaking, Iraq

BAGHDAD


Power supplies in Baghdad have been sporadic all summer and now are down to just a few hours a day, if that. The water supply in the capital has also been severely curtailed by power blackouts and cuts that have affected pumping and filtration stations.

Karbala province, south of Baghdad, had been without power for three days, causing water mains to go dry in the provincial capital, the Shiite holy city of Karbala.