Petrol rationing in a country awash with oil

Drivers in Baghdad, the capital of a country with the world’s third largest oil reserves, can now use their cars only on alternate days because of the continuing petrol shortages.

Under a new government directive that has left residents furious and traffic police complaining that the plan is unenforceable, cars with odd numbers at the end of their registration plate will be allowed on the roads one day and those with even numbers the next.