NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Iraq bombing: Iraqi officials say a suicide bomber detonated a pickup truck loaded with explosives, killing 32 people at a marketplace in a contested town claimed by Baghdad and the Kurdish region. Iraqi police say the powerful explosion Tuesday in Tuz Khormato wounded at least 75 people. The town — claimed by both Iraq’s central government and the country’s Kurdish region and located about 130 miles north of Baghdad— has long been the scene of skirmishes between Kurdish fighters known as the peshmerga and the mostly Shiite militia forces loyal to Baghdad. Such clashes escalated following the Kurdish region’s independence vote in September. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
2 Roman shipwrecks: Egypt says archaeologists have discovered three sunken shipwrecks dating back more than 2,000 years to Roman times off the coast of the city of Alexandria. Tuesday’s statement from Mostafa Waziri, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, says the archaeologists also uncovered a head sculpture carved in crystal and three gold coins dating back to Rome’s first emperor, Augustus. Parts of large wooden planks and remains of pottery vessels were also found, which could have been part of the ships’ cargo.
3 Premier returns: Saad Hariri returned to Lebanon late Tuesday for the first time since he stunned his country by announcing from Saudi Arabia that he was quitting as prime minister more than two weeks ago. His resignation, made in an uncomfortable televised statement from Riyadh, set off an international political crisis involving Paris and Washington, which were left without one of their chief partners in a region swirling in conflict. Hariri was leading a coalition government with his political opponents in the militant group Hezbollah when he stunned Lebanon by announcing his resignation on Nov. 4. He accused Hezbollah of holding Lebanon hostage and hinted there was a plot against his life.
4 Landmark speech: Israel’s parliament is holding a special session to mark 40 years since the historic visit of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Sadat’s 1977 address to the Knesset is credited with paving a path for peace between the countries. Two years later, Israel and Egypt signed a formal peace accord and Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula it had captured in the 1967 war. They have maintained quiet but close security ties since. Israel later made peace with Jordan, too. Sadat’s visit came just four years after Israel and Egypt fought a bitter war that claimed thousands of casualties. Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein opened the event, which was attended by Egyptian ambassador to Israel Hazem Khairat. He called the Sadat address “groundbreaking.” 5 “Mankinis” fines: Comic actor Sacha Baron Cohen has offered to pay the fines for six Czech tourists who reportedly were detained by authorities in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana for dressing up as his character Borat. Sporting lime green “mankinis” and black wigs, the men had hoped to take a picture in front of the “I Love Astana” sign earlier this month. But local police fined them some $68 each for committing minor hooliganism, according to local media. The swimsuit became popular after Baron Cohen sported it in the 2006 movie “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” That film offended many Kazakhs by portraying the country as backward and degenerate.