Iraq blasts kill 42

BAQUBA: Twin bombings in the Iraqi city of Khales, northeast of Baghdad, killed 42 people and wounded 65 others on Friday, security and medical officials said. Among the dead and wounded were an unknown number of women and children, said Ahmed Alwan, a doctor at the main hospital in Diyala province’s capital of Baquba, near Khales. A security official from Baquba Operations Command, on condition of anonymity, confirmed the toll. The blasts struck at around 1515 GMT in front of a cafe and a restaurant in central Khales, around 65 km northeast of Baghdad.