In Iraq, at least 64 people were killed, and over 100 others suffered burns and smoke inhalation, after a fire tore through a COVID-19 isolation ward at a hospital in the city of Nasiriyah. Monday’s fire was fueled by an exploding oxygen canister. A similar blaze in April killed 82 people and injured over a hundred others in a Baghdad hospital. The latest disaster came as Iraq recorded its highest daily infection rate of the pandemic and as Iraqis have been holding anti-government protests amid shortages of electricity and water during a blistering summer heat wave.