Iraq engulfed by wave of violence
Iraq was engulfed on Thursday by a wave of violence, with suicide and bomb attacks killing 23 people a day after a massive blast devastated a Baghdad Shi'ite neighbourhood slaughtering 40 civilians.
Violence has surged dramatically over the past 48 hours in Syria since Saturday, taking the battle between armed rebels and government troops to the capital of Damascus and northern Aleppo province which have relatively distanced themselves from the large-scale violence in other cities.