BREAKING NEWS

Car bombs in Iraqi Shiite cities kill 21

BAGHDAD — Car bombs struck three Shiite cities in southern Iraq  on Monday, killing more than 20 people in an apparent move to derail progress toward forming a new government as political leaders tried to break the eight-month deadlock.
The blasts in the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf and in Iraq's second largest city of Basra were the third major attacks since last week, after the slaughter of more than 50 Christians in a Baghdad church and a string of 13 coordinated bombings across Baghdad that killed more than 90 people.
There was no claim of responsibility for Monday's attacks, but the violence underscores the desire of al-Qaida and other Sunni extremists to foment sectarian division at a time when Iraqis are watching to see if their leaders can form a new government accepted by both the Shiite majority and the Sunni minority.