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Iraq

Wave Of Car Bombs Kills At Least 32 Across Iraq

AL JAZEERA (Qatar), CNN (USA), REUTERS

Worldcrunch

BAGHDAD - At least 32 people have been killed and scores injured on Monday in a series of car bombs and shootings across Iraqi cities.

Reports are still conflicting as to the number of attacks and casualties in this latest spate of violence plaguing the country.

CNN reports that eight car bombs in mainly Shi'ite districts of Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, killed at least 20 people on Monday.

Meanwhile, at least nine people were killed and 37 others wounded when two car bombs exploded in the predominantly Shiite Basra neighborhood in southern Iraq.

In another attack, gunmen ambushed two police checkpoints in Haditha on Monday, killing eight officers.

In Samarra, north of Baghdad, a car bomb killed two Sahwa anti-Al-Qaeda fighters and wounded 12, while a roadside bomb wounded three people in Mosul, northern Iraq.

The bodies of eight civilians who were kidnapped by gunmen on Saturday were found dead late Sunday night, officials told CNN.

Dozens of people have been killed in attacks over the past week as tensions between minority Sunni Muslims and Shi'ites who now lead Iraq have reached their highest level since U.S. troops pulled out in December 2011, Al Jazeera reports.

More than 700 people were killed in April by a U.N. count, the highest figure in almost five years, according to Reuters

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Society

Tales From A Blushing Nation: Exploring India's 'Issues' With Love And Sex

Why is it that this nation of a billion-plus has such problems with intimacy and romance?

Photo of Indian romance statues

Indian romance statues

Sreemanti Sengupta

KOLKATA — To a foreigner, India may seem to be a country obsessed with romance. What with the booming Bollywood film industry which tirelessly churns out tales of love and glory clothed in brilliant dance and action sequences, a history etched with ideal romantics like Laila-Majnu or the fact that the Taj Mahal has immortalised the love between king Shahjahan and queen Mumtaz.

It is difficult to fathom how this country with a billion-plus population routinely gets red in the face at the slightest hint or mention of sex.

It therefore may have come as a shock to many when the ‘couple-friendly’ hospitality brand OYO announced that they are “extremely humbled to share that we observed a record 90.57% increase in Valentine’s Day bookings across India.”

What does that say about India’s romantic culture?

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