8 die in bombing at Shiite mosque

8 die in bombing at Shiite mosque

BAGHDAD

A suicide bomber disguised as a worshipper blew himself up inside a Shiite mosque north of Baghdad on Thursday and killed eight people, a police spokesman said, shattering a period of relative calm across the country.

Eighteen people were injured in the blast in the city of Balad Ruz, 45 miles north of Baghdad, said the police spokesman, Maj. Ghalib al-Karkhi. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Sunni militants often have targeted Shiite mosques as a way to incite sectarian violence.

Preparations for levee break on hold

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.

A federal judge hearing arguments over the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to intentionally break a Mississippi River levee left the bench Thursday without making a ruling but indicated he was reluctant to get in the agency’s way.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr. heard arguments from attorneys for the state of Missouri and the Army Corps of Engineers on the corps’ proposal to use explosives to blow a 2-mile-wide hole through the Birds Point levee in southeast Missouri. The corps says breaking the levee would ease waters rising around the upstream town of Cairo, Ill., near the confluence of the swollen Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

The corps, however, halted its preparation for the break Thursday, saying it needed until the weekend to assess whether a sustained crest of the Mississippi at Cairo would demand the extraordinary step.

Terrorist bombing kills 14 in Morocco

MARRAKECH, Morocco

A massive terrorist bombing tore through a tourist cafe in the bustling heart of Marrakech’s old quarter, killing at least 11 foreigners and three Moroccans in the country’s deadliest attack in eight years.

At least 23 people were wounded in the Thursday blast a few minutes before noon in Djemma el-Fna square, one of the top attractions in a country that depends heavily on tourism, Moroccan Interior Minister Taib Chergaoui said.

Government spokesman Khalid Naciri told the AP it was too soon to lay blame for what he called a terrorist attack, but he noted that Morocco regularly dismantles cells linked to al-Qaida.

Prince William greets well-wishers

LONDON

Each step has been rehearsed, each flower meticulously arranged, the aisle of Westminster Abbey transformed into a flowering avenue of trees.

With just hours to go before his wedding to Kate Middleton, dedicated royal watchers camped outside got an unexpected surprise — a visit from Prince William.

The 28-year-old groom-to-be emerged from his residence Thursday night to greet the hordes of well-wishers gathered along the processional route. Dressed in khakis and grinning broadly, William shook countless hands as his photo was snapped on cellphones and digital cameras.

RFK killer: Girl manipulated me

LOS ANGELES

Convicted assassin Sirhan Sirhan was manipulated by a seductive girl in a mind- control plot to shoot Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and his bullets did not kill the presidential candidate, lawyers for Sirhan said in new legal papers.

The documents filed this week in federal court detail extensive interviews with Sirhan during the past three years, some done while he was under hypnosis.

The papers point to a mysterious girl in a polka-dot dress as the controller who led Sirhan to fire a gun in the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel. But the documents suggest a second person shot and killed Kennedy while using Sirhan as a diversion.

Associated Press