Bomb blast kill 22, wounds at least 50 in northwest Pakistan

A bomb exploded Saturday in a market in a northwest tribal region bordering Afghanistan, killing 22 people and wounding at least 50, officials said.

Dr. Sabir Hussain at the main hospital in Parachinar, the capital of Pakistan's Kurram tribal region, said two more wounded victims died in the hospital, increasing the death toll.

Bahrain executes 3 over police bombing, triggering protests

Bahrain on Sunday carried out its first executions since an Arab Spring uprising rocked the country in 2011, putting to death three men found guilty of a deadly bomb attack on police.

The executions of the Shiite men drew swift condemnation from human rights groups and sparked intense protests by opponents of the Sunni-ruled government, who see the charges as politically motivated. Activists allege that testimony used against the condemned men was obtained through torture.

Attack on Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia kills 3

Two gunmen wearing suicide bomb belts attacked a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia during Friday prayers, an assault that killed at least three people and one bomber and wounded 18, authorities said.

The attack struck the Imam Reda Mosque in the neighborhood of Mahasen, an area popular with Shiite workers of the state-run Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world's largest oil-producing firm.

Iranian protesters damage Saudi embassy in Tehran

Protesters in Iran, angered by the execution by Saudi Arabia of a prominent Shiite cleric, broke into the Saudi embassy in Tehran early Sunday, setting fires and throwing papers from the roof, Iranian media reported.

The semiofficial ISNA news agency said the country's top police official, Gen. Hossein Sajedinia, rushed to the scene and police worked to disperse the crowd outraged by the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Shiite leaders in Iran and other countries across the Middle East swiftly condemned Riyadh and warned of sectarian backlash.

Shiite holy month sees show of strength in Baghdad

Red and green Shiite banners line the streets of Baghdad, portraits of religious figures and slain "martyrs" stare down from billboards, hymns blare from shops and cafes, and grim-faced militiamen prowl the streets in pickup trucks.

The holy month of Muharram has brought an unprecedented show of strength by Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority, underscoring its domination of the bitterly fractured capital and the vulnerability of the once-dominant Sunnis, while raising fears of a new round of sectarian cleansing by Shiite militias allied with the government.