BHAKKAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed at least 12 people and wounded around 30 including a leading Pakistani opposition politician and member of the minority Shi’ite Muslim community on Monday, police said.

SAMARRA, Iraq (Reuters) – A ring of scaffolding around charred bricks is all that now stands in place of the golden dome that adorned one of Shi’ite Islam’s holiest shrines.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan began registering voters on Monday for elections due next year that will test support for President Hamid Karzai and democracy itself which is threatened by a virulent Taliban insurgency in which thousands have died.