The New Nation - Internet Edition

Suicide bomber kills 56 Shiite pilgrims in Iraq

AP, Baghdad

A roadside bomb killed three Shiite pilgrims Monday in the outskirts of Baghdad, while the death toll from a suicide bombing targeting pilgrims resting in a tent the day before rose to 56, authorities said.

In all, extremists have attacked pilgrims headed to the holy city of Karbala three times in the past two days.

The suicide bomber targeted travelers enjoying tea and refreshments in a tent near Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad, as authorities have fortified the capital and Karbala to try to keep away extremists.

Karbala is burial site of Imam Hussein, one of Shiite Islam's most revered figures, where ceremonies will culminate Wednesday to commemorate the end of the 40-day mourning period following the anniversary of his death.

Sunday's blast killed at least 56 people and injured 68, according to police and Dr. Mahmoud Abdul-Rida, director of the Babil health department.

Hours earlier, extremists attacked another group with guns and grenades in the predominantly Sunni Baghdad neighborhood of Dora, killing three and wounding 36, police said.

Monday's attack, meanwhile, also wounded 15, said a police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

The U.S. embassy in Baghdad and U.S. military forces issued a joint statement Monday condemning the attacks.

"Those killed and wounded in yesterday's barbaric attacks in Baghdad and Iskandariyah were innocent citizens participating in an important religious commemoration," it said.

"This indiscriminate violence further reflects the nature of this enemy who will target even those practicing their religion in an effort to re-ignite sectarian strife in Iraq."

Major Shiite commemorations have frequently been targeted in the past by suspected Sunni insurgents led by al-Qaida in Iraq in their drive to stoke sectarian violence.

The attacks have prompted U.S. and Iraqi forces to increase the number of checkpoints, and impose car bans and other measures in major Shiite cities to protect the worshippers.

Recent commemorations - including the Ashoura festival in mid-January to mark Imam Hussein's death - have passed without major bloodshed amid an overall decline in violence across Iraq. But the pilgrims who walk for days to reach the shrine of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad who died in a seventh century battle near Karbala, are vulnerable despite the increased security.

Then, on Monday morning, a roadside bomb killed three pilgrims on the outskirts of Baghdad, police said.

Gloves come off as Hillary-Obama showdown looms

AFP, Washington

Just a few days ago, pundits said Hillary Clinton was preparing a graceful exit from the Democrats' White House race. Now, heading into must-win battles in Ohio and Texas, she is coming out firing.

The former first lady's hard-charging rival, Barack Obama, has the momentum and the money heading into the battleground states' primaries in just over a week.

Another slew of press reports on Sunday said Clinton's advisors, baffled and demoralized in the face of Obama's 11 nominating wins on the trot, were preparing for the campaign's last rites.

"Soldiering on, but somber as the horizon darkens," the New York Times headline read.

But if defeat is on the campaign's mind, nobody seems to have told the candidate herself.

The New York senator launched a scathing attack on Obama Saturday, accusing her rival from Illinois of purloining Republican smear tactics to criticize her positions on healthcare and trade.

"Shame on you, Barack Obama," Clinton said at a rally in Ohio, which along with Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont holds its Democratic primary on March 4.

"Meet me in Ohio. Let's have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign," she said.

Clinton and Obama are due to clash Tuesday at possibly their final televised debate in Cleveland, Ohio. At the end of their last debate on Thursday, Clinton set tongues wagging by adopting an elegiac note.

41 killed in fresh fighting in Sri Lanka

AFP, Colombo

At least 36 Tamil Tiger guerrillas and five Sri Lankan government soldiers have been killed in fresh fighting in and around rebel-held territory, the island's defence ministry said Monday.

War planes bombed a suspected Tamil Tiger naval base in the district of Kilinochchi on Sunday, inflicting heavy damage, the ministry said, adding that 10 rebels, including a self-styled lieutenant colonel, were killed.

Another 26 Tiger guerrillas and five soldiers were killed in ground attacks in the north of the island, it said.

For their part, the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said two air strikes on Sunday had hit civilians inside their territory.

The Tigers, who are leading a decades-old campaign for independence for minority Tamils in this majority Sinhalese nation of 19.5 million people, said two civilians were wounded.

The rebels made no reference to ground attacks.

According to the defence ministry, 1,581 rebels have been killed so far this year. The military estimates the Tigers' strength at 5,000 combatants.

The military says 90 soldiers and police have also been killed in 2008.

Casualty figures provided by both sides differ vastly and cannot be independently verified since the government bars journalists and human rights workers from frontline and rebel-held areas.

Iran confirms new nuclear centrifuges

AP, Tehran

Iran said Sunday that it has started using new centrifuges that can churn out enriched uranium at more than double the rate of the machines that now form the backbone of the Islamic nation's nuclear program.

The announcement was the first official confirmation by Tehran after diplomats with the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog reported earlier this month that Iran was using 10 of the new IR-2 centrifuges.

"We are (now) running a new generation of centrifuges," the official IRNA news agency quoted Javad Vaidi, deputy of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, as saying. No futher details were provided.

Ex-CEO takes over as South Korean president

Reuters, Seoul

Ex-construction boss Lee Myung-bak was sworn in as South Korea's new president on Monday, promising business-like pragmatism after a decade of ideological policies he said had left the world's 13th largest economy adrift.

His inauguration speech stuck closely to the campaign pledges for radical change that helped him to a landslide election win in December, ending 10 years of liberal rule his supporters say kept the South Korean economy from reaching its real potential. "Although it is going to be difficult and painful, we must change much more and much faster," the 66-year-old conservative told an estimated audience of 60,000 people that included Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "Economic revival is our most urgent task," he said. "At times over the last 10 years, we found ourselves faltering and confused t we must move from the age of ideology and into the age of pragmatism."

Parliament names Raul Castro president

AP, Havana

Cuba's parliament named Raul Castro president on Sunday, ending nearly 50 years of rule by his brother Fidel but leaving the island's communist system unshaken. In a surprise move, officials bypassed younger candidates to name a 77-year-old revolutionary leader, Jose Ramon Machado, to Cuba's No. 2 spot - apparently assuring the old guard that no significant political changes will be made soon. The retirement of the ailing 81-year-old president caps a career in which he frustrated efforts by 10 U.S. presidents to oust him. Raul Castro, 76, stressed that his brother remains "commander in chief" even if he is not president and proposed to consult with Fidel on all major decisions of state - a motion approved by acclamation.