A series of five bombs exploded outside Shiite mosques during Friday prayers in Baghdad today, killing at least 27 people.

Trials will be held next month for suspects accused of taking part in riots that killed 197 people in the Xinjiang region of China last month. Most of the accused are members of the Uighur minority.

The verdict, expected today, in the case against Burmese pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has been delayed until August 11.

The civilian death toll in Afghanistan rose by 24 percent this year, according to a report released today by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

The leader of Nigeria’s Islamic militant group Boko Haram is confirmed dead and calm returns to the northern Nigerian city of Maidurguri after four days of fighting which killed hundreds. Police say that Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf was killed in a shoot out, but several local journalists and a Reuters reporter saw him in detained at a military barracks, and many have reported that he was shot dead in police custody.