In Iraq, at least seventy-two people were killed Friday in a series of coordinated bombings in Shiite areas of Baghdad. The blasts struck mosques, homes and shops near the office of the leading Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. It was the deadliest attack Iraq has seen so far this year. It comes four days after the US and Iraqi governments announced the killing of two top leaders with the group al-Qaeda in Iraq. On Sunday, an al-Qaeda front group confirmed the killing of the leaders but vowed to continue its fight.