BEIRUT - Gunmen shot and killed the brother of Syria's parliament speaker as he drove to work in the capital, Damascus, the state-run news agency reported on Tuesday. The Sana news agency said Mohammed Osama Laham, brother of Parliament Speaker Jihad Laham was killed. AP
COOKSTOWN, United Kingdom - The funeral took place of a Northern Ireland prison officer shot dead in an attack blamed on dissident Irish republicans. David Black, 52, was gunned down on Northern Ireland's main M1 motorway as he drove to work at Maghaberry jail, southwest of Belfast. Inmates at the high-security prison were among those who paid tribute. AFP
BAGHDAD - A car bomb exploded at the entrance to an Iraqi army base as potential new recruits were massed at the gate, killing at least 25 people. The blast, in the town of Taji, 25 kilometres north of Baghdad, also left at least 30 people wounded. The blast struck as the base was holding a recruitment day to welcome potential new soldiers, events which have previously been targets of militants intent on carrying out mass-casualty attacks in Iraq. AFP