Iraq's First Lady Survives Attack on Motorcade

The wife of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani escaped injury after a roadside bomb hit her motorcade in Baghdad this morning. Hiro Ahmed Ibrahim was on her way to a cultural festival when the blast hit, injuring four of the first lady's bodyguards. It is unclear whether the attack was random or she was targeted, AP reports.

Four Marines were killed by an explosion in Anbar Province on Friday, in the deadliest attack since September, the US military said today. In spite of these bombings, along with another two Marines killed on April 22, a military spokesman announced a decline in al-Qaeda attacks last month. There is "no place for al-Qaeda" to hide, he told reporters (More Iraq stories.)