Gwinnett Daily Post

Iraq: Suicide bomber kills 12 near Baghdad

BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber struck Shiite worshippers Friday at a mosque run by followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, killing at least 12 people, a day after Iraqi lawmakers approved a security pact with the United States.

The blast underlined fears on both sides of the argument - proponents of the deal warn the Iraqis aren't ready to take over their own security while opponents, led by the Sadrists, say the American presence is the main reason for the instability plaguing the country.

In Baghdad, thousands of al-Sadr's loyalists took to the streets to rally against the deal in the main Shiite district of Sadr City.

Russian president visits Fidel Castro

HAVANA - Russia's president met with ailing revolutionary icon Fidel Castro on Friday, winding up a visit aimed at freshening relations with his country's old Cold War ally and raising Moscow's profile across the rest of the Latin America.

Dmitry Medvedev spent hours talking and sightseeing with President Raul Castro before meeting privately with his 82-year-old older brother.

Medvedev and Raul Castro laid a wreath at a monument to Soviet soldiers who died while serving in Cuba in the early 1960s, a symbol of Cuba's once-prominent part in the communist bloc and the history of its ties to Russia.

Taliban kill 13 Afghan troops

KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban insurgents killed 13 Afghan troops in an ambush of their convoy in northwestern Afghanistan, while NATO-led troops fired on insurgents inside Pakistan, officials said Friday.

More than 300 militants attacked the Afghan forces' convoy, which was transporting 47 vehicles for their units in Bala Murghab district of Badghis province late Thursday, said Naeem Khan, a border police official.

Cleaner who found $20K can keep it

MADRID, Spain - A Peruvian immigrant who found $20,000 while cleaning an airliner and turned it in to the police can now call the money her own.

Marisol Aguirre, 47, said the airline Iberia contacted her last week to say no one had claimed the cash and that under Spanish law it belongs to her.