Car bomb kills 26 in Iraq

A suicide car bomb devastated Baghdad's historic booksellers' district on Monday, killing up to 26 people and setting shops and cars ablaze, sending a thick plume of choking black smoke over the city. As U.S. and Iraqi forces extended a major security crackdown into a key Shi'ite militia haven in northeast Baghdad, the blast on Mutanabi Street was a challenge to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki who has vowed to deal evenly with Sunni Arab insurgents and Shi'ite militias.