A car bomb exploded in a largely Shiite neighborhood Wednesday, killing at least 16 people, just as Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited the capital and said a secure and stable Iraq was within reach. It was the deadliest of four bombs in Iraq on Wednesday that killed a total of 25 people. Earlier, a blast went off in the northern city of Mosul, where Gates had landed on his sixth trip to Iraq. Gunfire and sirens followed the bombing in Baghdad’s Karradah neighborhood, and a plume of smoke rose in the sky.
A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a minibus carrying Afghan soldiers in a crowded market south of Kabul on Wednesday, killing at least 13 people and wounding 20, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility. The third suicide blast around the capital in eight days was in line with the militants’ strategy of staging spectacular attacks on Western-trained security forces, but civilians usually pay the highest price. The bomber’s car struck the minibus full of troops at a bustling market in the Chihulsutoon area, said Aziz Ahmad, an Afghan army officer at the scene.
Israel’s army has completed plans for a large offensive in the Gaza Strip and is only waiting for government approval, the military chief said Wednesday, shortly after two Palestinian militants were killed by Israeli tank fire in the coastal area. Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said that until he receives the go-ahead for a broad operation, Israel would continue with its policy of airstrikes and brief ground incursions to halt Palestinian rocket attacks. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has repeatedly said that the time for a widespread ground invasion of Gaza is drawing closer.
Scottish lawmakers on Wednesday backed efforts to save Donald Trump’s proposed $2.1 billion golf resort that would be built on an unspoiled beach near Aberdeen. The Scottish government took the unusual step of agreeing to review Trump’s application after a local council rejected it. The project is now before the Scottish Parliament’s economy, energy and tourism committee and a final decision on the project is still likely months away. Trump’s organization has said it is considering moving the billion-pound project to Northern Ireland after Aberdeenshire Council last week threw out part of the proposal.\nThe Berlin Zoo’s famous polar bear Knut celebrated his first birthday Wednesday with more than 2,000 well-wishers. As a cub, the bear was rejected by his mother and raised by staff at the zoo. But Knut – no longer a tiny cub, thanks partly to his penchant for croissants – probably didn’t get a taste of his own giant birthday cake, made with 300 eggs and 22 pounds of marzipan. He now tips the scales at more than 240 pounds and has been on a diet since July. His special treat, instead, was a healthier concoction of fresh fruit, vegetables and rice–\ntopped with a toy candle.
President Bush, trying to keep pressure on Iran, called on Tehran Wednesday to “come clean” about the scope of its nuclear activities or else face diplomatic isolation. Two days after a new intelligence report said that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program four years ago, Bush demanded that Tehran detail its previous program to develop nuclear weapons “which the Iranian regime has yet to acknowledge.” The administration is worried that the new National Intelligence Estimate – \nrepresenting a consensus of all U.S. spy agencies – weakens its leverage over Iran and its ability to build global pressure on Tehran to stop its uranium enrichment program.
