Car Bomb in Iraq Kills 18

Iraq’s Shiite religious-affairs office was the target of a brutal car-bomb attack Monday that claimed 18 lives and left dozens wounded. The explosion in the city’s capital came at about 11 a.m. local time and damaged surrounding buildings. “The scene was horrific,” one witness told The Associated Press after the vehicle wired with explosives went off, causing the first floor of the religious-affairs office to collapse, shattering glass, and damaging nearby cars. The building housed offices that oversee the management of religious sites such as mosques and other locations for the country’s Shiite Muslim population.