Twin suicide bombings killed 48 people on Sunday, including dozens from a government-backed, anti-al-Qaida militia who were lined up to get their paychecks near a military base southwest of Baghdad, Iraqi officials said.
The bombings were the deadliest in a series of attacks across Iraq Sunday that were aimed at the Sons of Iraq, a Sunni group also known as Sahwa that works with government forces to fight al-Qaida in Iraq. The attacks highlighted the stiff challenges the country faces as the U.S. scales back its forces in Iraq, leaving their …

Provocative new research shows that treating people with the AIDS virus can provide a powerful bonus: It cuts the risk that they will infect others.
New infections plummeted in parts of Canada as more people went on AIDS drugs, which lowered the amount of virus they had and the chances they would spread it, the study found.
For every 100 people with HIV who started taking AIDS drugs, new infections dropped by 3 percent in British Columbia, where the study was done. The number of new infections there has been cut in …

The Hamas-run government in Gaza on Sunday said it had banned women from smoking water pipes in public, as fear of the police drove many cafe owners to extinguish the popular pastime.
“The police have decided to ban women from smoking water pipes in open, public places because it is against our customs, traditions and social norms,” interior ministry spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein told AFP.

The Israeli and Palestinian leaders prepared to hold separate meetings with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Sunday after Mubarak conferred with the US Middle East envoy on a push for direct talks between the two men.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas were not expected to meet, Mubarak’s office stressed, despite months of efforts by US envoy George Mitchell to end an 18-month hiatus in face-to-face negotiations.