Bombings

A triple bombing aimed at a reconciliation meeting in Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Anbar province, killed at least 26 people and wounded dozens today, highlighting fears that insurgents are regrouping in what was once the epicenter of their revolt.The blasts coincided with growing concerns that crucial national elections scheduled for January may have to be postponed if lawmakers fail to agree soon on a new election law. The midday bombings targeted the Anbar provincial council's headquarters during a meeting between representatives of the Shiite-led government and local members of the Awakening movement, a Sunni group that turned against the insurgency in 2006.

The Iraqi government said Friday that it had detained members of a network loyal to the former Baath Party of Saddam Hussein in the deadly bombings at two ministries in the heart of Baghdad this week. The arrests came as recriminations continued to fly over the devastating bombings, which killed nearly 100 people, wounded more than 500 and shattered faith in the ability of the Iraqi security forces to maintain order now that U.S. forces have withdrawn from the cities. Top lawmakers called for a comprehensive review of the nation's security strategies and for the resignation of key security officials, intensifying pressure on Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's government to apprehend those responsible for the attacks.

Restaurant owner Lyra Quitay is blind in one eye. Her arms, chest and legs bear painful black scars and her right hand is so gnarled that it resembles a claw when she signs her name. In October 2001, a terrorist's bomb ripped through the claustrophobic downtown market where Quitay runs a tiny kitchen, instantly killing her security guard and blowing a hole in her life. The guard had gone to investigate an abandoned duck egg cart; when he opened the lid on a pot, it exploded -- ripping off his head and leaving Quitay with injuries so severe that she still wakes up crying at night.

A remote-controlled car bomb blasted a passing bus transporting soldiers in southern Turkey on Thursday, killing five people and wounding scores more, authorities said. The attack in the city of Diyarbakir, in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast, appeared to be the latest in a raging border battle between Turkish forces and Kurdish separatist rebels, most of whom are based in northern Iraq.

Ten people were killed and more than 40 injured when a bomb exploded here Monday on a path crowded with food and vegetable vendors, police said. The device, reportedly rigged to a motorcycle left near a fruit cart, rocked the working-class neighborhood in Pakistan's largest city, police said. The rush-hour blast was the latest in a wave of violence, including the Dec.

A powerful car bomb Friday in a suburb of the Lebanese capital killed a key investigator of a string of previous assassinations and Al Qaeda-linked groups said to be fomenting political violence in this shaky country. Inspector Wissam Eid, a ranking intelligence official in the Internal Security Forces, and his aide were killed by the explosion in an intersection in a mostly Christian area east of Beirut. At least two other civilians died and 41 were wounded, security and medical officials said.

The U.S. military said Wednesday it was holding the administrator of a psychiatric hospital on suspicion that he may have helped insurgents find mentally disabled women to carry bombs that devastated two Baghdad markets this month. The Feb. 1 blasts, which Iraqi officials said killed 99 people, marked the worst violence to hit the capital since a buildup of U.S. troops was completed in June. The day after the attacks, U.S.

A bomb exploded Friday on a street in central Mexico City near the security ministry, killing one person and injuring two. No group claimed responsibility for the blast and there was no warning. The Mexican government is locked in a violent battle with drug gangs. Last year left-wing rebels planted small bombs at oil installations. Officers are checking warnings that were phoned in after the blast about other possible explosives left in nearby streets, Mexico City Police Chief Joel Ortega said.

Authorities on Tuesday accused drug traffickers of attempting to kill a top Mexico City police official last week by blowing up his car, a botched assassination that left the bomber dead. The unfolding mystery of the attack, which also left a suspected accomplice severely wounded, has fascinated Mexicans for days. Investigators have used surveillance video and forensic anthropology to reconstruct the plot.

An explosion killed a police commander Monday during a visit by a man in a wheelchair who might have been a suicide bomber or an unwitting victim of insurgents, officials said. If the man was used by militants, it would be the third time this month that Iraqi security forces say disabled people were used to carry explosives that killed themselves and others.