QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I would urge them to live by the standards of the law.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, emphasizing that Russia should send wanted leaker Edward Snowden back to the United States Article, 1A
Bomb attacks in Iraq kill at least 42
BAGHDAD - A series of evening bombings near markets in and around Baghdad and other blasts north of the capital killed at least 42 people and wounded dozens of others Monday in the latest outbreak of bloodshed to rock Iraq.
The wave of violence has claimed more than 2,000 lives since the beginning of April. Militants, building on Sunni discontent with the Shiite-led government, appear to be growing stronger in central and northern Iraq.
One of the deadliest attacks came at night, when two bombs placed near a market blew up less than a minute apart in Baghdad’s mostly Shiite neighborhood of Husseiniyah, killing 10 people and wounding 30 others.
Police said the second bomb went off among a group of people who had gathered at the scene to help the victims of the first blast.
Earlier, police said, two car bombs exploded within minutes on a commercial street in the mixed neighborhood of Jihad in western Baghdad, killing nine people and wounding 21 others, police said.
Also, four people were killed and nine others were wounded when a car bomb exploded near a line of shops in the Shiite-dominated area of al-Shurta al-Rabeaa.
Report: Qatar ruler to hand reins to son
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Qatar’s ruler said Monday he plans to transfer power to his 33-year-old son, the Persian Gulf nation’s crown prince, a report said, in what would mark a rare transition of authority in a region where most leaders remain in power until death.
The report by Qatar-based Al-Jazeera gave no other details, including whether health problems of the 61-year emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, played a role in the decision.
The network was founded by Qatar’s government and closely reflects its views on internal issues.
Such a transfer would mark a change in the ruling fraternity across the Western-backed Gulf Arab states by ushering a new generation into leadership ranks dominated by old-guard figures.
No major policy shifts are expected when Hamad steps down. The British-educated crown prince, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has been closely involved in all key decisions in recent years, and the emir is likely to play an important role from the wings.
Taliban claim attack in heart of Kabul
KABUL - The Taliban say they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosions rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace.
Smoke rose from the eastern gate of the palace early this morning after more than a half-dozen explosions and at least 45 minutes of on-and-off small arms fire.
The Taliban sent a quick text-message statement saying, “We brought death to the enemy.”
The palace is in a large, fortified area of downtown Kabul that also includes the U.S. Embassy and the headquarters for the NATO-led coalition forces.
Reporters gathering for an event with President Hamid Karzai counted at least seven or eight explosions starting about 6:30 a.m.
Rockets disrupt Israel-Gaza cease-fire
JERUSALEM - The fragile six-month cease-fire between Israel and Gaza was shaken early Monday after militants from the Palestinian coastal enclave fired at least six rockets against southern Israel and the Israeli military responded with airstrikes against what it said were weapons-storage facilities and a rocket-launch site in the southern Gaza Strip.
The rockets landed in open areas, causing no damage or injury, according to a police spokesman, and there were no reports of injuries in Gaza.
The clash, which began late Sunday and broke several weeks of relative calm along the Israel-Gaza border, may have been set off by an internal dispute in Gaza between Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls the coastal territory, and the extremist Islamic Jihad group, one of whose members - Raed Jundiyeh - was killed when the Hamas police came to arrest him.
Hamas has worked to preserve the cease-fire with Israel despite some sporadic rocket fire over the past few months and the killing of a number of Palestinians by Israeli fire along the borders. By Monday, it appeared that the rocket fire may have been a local initiative by friends of Jundiyeh. Islamic Jihad said that it remained formally committed to the cease-fire with Israel.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 06/25/2013