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Terrorist rockets fell on a mess tent in Mosul as US and Iraqi forces were sitting at lunch, and the Defense Department confirmed that at least 22 people were killed. Fifty others were wounded in the attack, for which a group calling itself the Ansar al-Sunnah Army claimed responsibility. Some of the casualties may be civilians, a military spokesman said. Ansar al-Sunnah is believed to want to turn Iraq into an Islamic fundamentalist state on the model of Afghanistan under the Taliban. It also has claimed responsibility for decapitating 12 hostages and for other attacks in the volatile city.

A 50-car convoy attempting to campaign for opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko was forced to turn back from his rival's hometown in Ukraine only hours after the two had met in a highly charged TV debate. Voters will chose between Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich in an unprecedented second runoff election Sunday. Several regions of eastern Ukraine that support Yanukovich have threatened to pursue autonomy in protest against the nullification of the first runoff that showed him winning. But he pledged Tuesday not "to put up with attempts to divide" the nation regardless of the outcome Sunday.

Forty days of official mourning for the late Yasser Arafat ended in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but his presumed successor vowed to uphold the campaign for a Palestinian state that includes both territories. Mahmoud Abbas also pointedly refrained from criticizing Palestinian violence in a speech at Arafat's old headquarters in the West Bank, praising the latter's "legendary steadfastness." Asked for comment, Israeli Prime Minister Sharon said he was "discouraged" by Abbas's refusal to distance himself from Arafat. Palestinians are to vote on Arafat's successor Jan. 9.

Armed robbers forced employees of a bank in Belfast to help them gain access to the vault after business hours Monday and then escaped with $39 million in cash - the largest theft in Northern Ireland history. Police were not ready to say whether they'd identified any of the more than 80 crime gangs that operate in the province - among them members of the Irish Republican Army - as being responsible for the robbery. The headquarters of the Northern Bank had been holding the money for distribution to its branches prior to Christmas.

Forty-nine people died and 15 others were injured when an inter-city bus slid off a rainy mountain road in rural Peru and fell almost 200 feet into a river. The accident happened Sunday, but news of it did not reach journalists for almost 24 hours.

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