In brief: At least 40 dead in Iraq bombings

BAGHDAD – A double bombing tore through Kurdish political party offices in northern Iraq in the deadliest of a series of attacks nationwide that killed at least 40 people, officials said. It was the second such assault in as many days.

Nobody claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack. But an al-Qaida splinter group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the previous double bombing Sunday against Kurdish offices in Jalula, northwest of Baghdad, killing 19 people. The group said in an online statement that the bombings in Jalula were in response to the detention of Muslim women by authorities in the self-rule Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

Monday’s attack took place in the town of Tuz Khormato, 130 miles north of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden truck into a checkpoint leading up to the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the nearby Kurdistan Communist Party.

Mayor Shalal Abdoul said another truck bomb exploded, presumably detonated by remote control, as people rushed to the scene of the first attack. The blasts killed 22 people, wounded as many as 150 and destroyed several houses and cars, he said.

Israelis hospitalize hunger strikers

JERUSALEM – Israeli authorities have hospitalized 65 Palestinian prisoners who have been participating in an extended hunger strike over Israel’s use of administrative detention to keep prisoners in jail indefinitely without charges. An estimated 300 prisoners are thought to be taking part in the strike. The strike has prompted the Israeli government to push legislation that would allow force-feeding, something the Israeli medical association opposes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly has cited force-feeding at Guantanamo in pressing for the legislation.

Mexico City bans animals at circuses

MEXICO CITY – If you plan to watch a circus in Mexico’s capital, you had better like clowns and acrobats.

Reacting to allegations of abuse, Mexico City politicians voted overwhelmingly Monday to prohibit the use of animals at circuses. Owners of circuses will have about a year to alter their shows before the law is enforced.

Authorities will levy substantial fines – up to about $70,000 – and confiscate animals from circuses that don’t follow the law. The law reportedly doesn’t apply to other activities such as rodeos.

Now Mexico City, with more than 20 million residents, and six Mexican states – Colima, Guerrero, Morelos, Yucatan, Chiapas and Zacatecas – prohibit the use of animals in circuses.

The law does not force the circuses to get rid of the animals, but they cannot be used in shows.

At a news conference, Jesus Sesma, the politician who pushed the law, described it as promoting “a respect for living beings who are not human.”