Bombs Kill 17 in Five Iraqi Shi'ite Mosques

Car bombs hit four Shi'ite mosques in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and another in Kirkuk just after prayers on Friday, tearing into crowds of worshipers and killing 17, police and witnesses said.

Sunni Islamists linked to al Qaeda's Iraqi wing have stepped up attacks this year and often target Shi'ite sites in a growing sectarian confrontation a decade after the U.S.-led invasion.
Police said blasts hit Shi'ite mosques in southeastern and northern Baghdad and another in Kirkuk, the ethnically mixed city of Arabs, Kurds and Turkman 170 km (100 miles) north of the capital."We were listening to the cleric's speech when we heard a very strong explosion. Glass scattered everywhere and the roof partially collapsed," said Mohammed, a victim wounded in the Kirkuk blast, his shirt still covered in blood.

Attacks in Iraq are still below the worst Sunni-Shi'ite slaughter that erupted at the height of the war when insurgents bombed the Shi'ite al-Askari shrine Bombs Kill 17 in Five Iraqi Shi'ite Mosquesin Samarra in 2006, provoking a wave of retaliation by militias.
But security officials say al Qaeda's wing, Islamic State of Iraq, is regrouping in the desert of western Iraq, invigorated by the war and flow of Islamist fighters battling against President Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria.

(Reporting by Omar Mohammed and Baghdad newsroom; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Nelson Mandela's illness no cause for alarm, says Jacob Zuma

South African president says country must not panic after anti-apartheid hero spends second night in hospital.

Nelson Mandela’s illness has cast a shadow over the Easter holiday in South Africa. Photograph: Siphiwe Sibeko/AFP/Getty Images

Nelson Mandela has spent a second night in hospital as the South African president, Jacob Zuma, cautioned that "the country must not panic".

The 94-year-old hero of the anti-apartheid struggle is being treated for a recurring lung infection and is said by officials to be conscious and responding positively.

Mandela's latest illness has cast a shadow over the Easter holiday in South Africa but Zuma, using the former president's clan name, Madiba, said people should "slow down the anxiety".

"Of course I have been saying to people, you should bear in mind Madiba is no longer that young and if he goes for check-ups every now and again, I don't think people must be alarmed about it," Zuma told the BBC on Thursday. "I would like to really say the country must not panic."

When asked if people should prepare for the inevitable, Zuma replied: "In Zulu, when someone passes away who is very old, people say he or she has gone home. I think those are some of the things we should be thinking about."

But he stressed that Mandela had been able to handle the situation very well so far. "Very few outstanding personalities in the world live to his level," he added.

Mandela was admitted for treatment shortly before midnight on Wednesday, his third stint in hospital in four months. He is believed to be at 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria and to have been visited by close family.

Barack Obama led wellwishers around the world in expressing hope for his speedy recovery. The US president said he was "deeply concerned with Nelson Mandela's health" and "we will be keeping him in our thoughts and prayers".

He added: "When you think of a single individual that embodies the kind of leadership qualities that I think we all aspire to, the first name that comes up is Nelson Mandela. And so we wish him all the very best."

Obama said Mandela was as strong physically as he had been in leadership and character. His remarks came on Thursday as he met the leaders of Sierra Leone, Senegal, Malawi and Cape Verde.

People around the world posted best wishes on Twitter. South African anti-apartheid activist Frank Chikane tweeted a call for prayers: "As we enter the Easter weekend we should dedicate our prayers for Tata Mandela for his speedy recovery."

Mandela has been mostly absent from the political scene for the past decade but remains a beloved symbol of the struggle against white-minority rule. He spent 27 years in prison, including 18 on Robben Island. He became South Africa's first black president after winning the country's first multiracial democratic election in 1994.

Mandela has a history of lung problems dating to when he contracted tuberculosis as a political prisoner. He was in hospital briefly earlier this month for a check-up and spent nearly three weeks in hospital in December with a lung infection and after surgery to remove gallstones. That was his longest stay in hospital since his release from prison in 1990.

Pope Francis to wash offenders' feet on Maundy Thursday

Pope Francis will wash the feet of prisoners in a youth detention centre near Rome on Maundy Thursday.

Thousands of pilgrims and tourists are arriving in Rome to attend ceremonies during the holy week ahead of Easter.

The washing of feet on the Thursday before Easter is a Christian tradition commemorating Christ's Last Supper.

It is part of a papal calendar of events running up to Easter, the most important festival in the calendar of the Catholic Church.

On Easter Sunday morning, the new Pope will deliver his first "Urbi et Orbi" message to the city of Rome and to the world.

During his inaugural general audience Wednesday, Francis called for an immediate political solution to the conflict in the Central African Republic after last weekend's coup.

Gesture of humility

The new leader of the world's 1.2bn Roman Catholics has brought a new sense of simplicity to the Vatican, reports the BBC's David Willey in Rome.

He has decided to live in a small suite in a residence for clerics, eating with other priests in a common dining room, after deciding not to move into the palatial apartments occupied by his predecessors in the Apostolic Palace.

He has again broken with tradition for the foot-washing ceremony, which is normally performed on lay people in one of Rome's basilicas.

This time the Pope will visit the Casal del Marmo detention centre on the outskirts of Rome.

Pope Benedict XVI visited the centre in 2007, but not for the Holy Thursday Mass. Only for the first two years of his pontificate did he perform the feet-washing himself, after which the task was delegated to priests.

During the service, the pope washes and kisses the feet of 12 people to replicate the Bible's account of Jesus Christ's gesture of humility towards his 12 apostles on the night before he was crucified.

Some of the young detainees volunteered to have their feet washed, while others were given an invitation to help them overcome their embarrassment, the Catholic News Agency quoted the prison chaplain as saying.

On Good Friday evening the Pope will carry a wooden cross and pray at a ceremony at Rome's ancient amphitheatre, the Colosseum, commemorating Jesus' crucifixion.

And on Saturday evening Pope Francis will celebrate the main Easter Vigil Mass in St Peter's Basilica.

Pope Francis - renowned for his modest former life as bishop of the Argentine capital Buenos Aires - refuses to be awed by the magnificent surroundings of his new Vatican City home, visited every year by five million tourists and pilgrims, our correspondent says.

Some past popes vaunted their riches, but Francis wants a simpler church mindful of the plight of the world's poor people, he adds.

Ex-Wife's Son Is Painful Reminder Of Unhappy Past

DEAR ABBY: I was divorced when my son was 9. He's now 24. My ex-wife married the man she hadbeen having an affair with and they have a 12-year-old son. I am also remarried and in a good place in my life.

For the past two years, my son has brought his half brother to our beach house for a weekend of fun. We honored this request and enjoy time with our son, but it is difficult having his half brother in my home. It brings up emotions I thought I had put behind me years ago.

I do not want these visits to continue, and I need to communicate this. I'd like to have an adult conversation with my son to explain the situation. How much do I tell him about my emotional reasons without being negative about his mom?
I also don't think he should have to carry the news to my ex or disappoint a 12-year-old. Should I send a simple note to her and explain that we will no longer host her son? -- NEEDS THE RIGHT WORDS
DEAR NEEDS: By all means write your ex. Explain that entertaining her son brings up emotions you would rather not have to relive. It's not the boy's fault that he's the flesh-and-blood symbol of his mother's infidelity, but you don't have to have him there if you don't want to.

If you would like to have a man-to-man talk with your son, go ahead and do it. He's an adult. Tell him pretty much the same thing -- that having the boy over is painful for you and, therefore, you prefer the beach house visits stop. You are entitled to your feelings, and your son is old enough to appreciate them.

---

DEAR ABBY: I'm a widow, as are many of my friends these days. Widowhood is difficult. If you're not prepared, it can be horrible. That's why I'd like to urge women to learn to take care of themselves because the odds are they will be alone sooner or later after the age of 50. Some suggestions:
1. If you haven't already, learn to drive.
2. Learn to pump gas and how to check your tires and the fluids in your car.
3. Learn to use a few basic tools and do home repairs.
4. Pay attention to financial matters such as balancing a checkbook.
5. Know where your records are, what's in them and what information you will need for taxes.
6. Buy a shredder and shred unnecessary papers.
7. Make friends with other women. If you don't, life gets lonely.
8. Be courageous and do what you need to do to be happy.
9. Start to simplify your home. It will free your mind from clutter and, if necessary, allow you to move to smaller quarters.
10. Let your children lead their lives, lead your own and present a cheerful face to the world! -- KATHLEEN IN DULUTH, MINN.
DEAR KATHLEEN: Those are excellent suggestions, to which I would add how important it is to consult a CPA and a lawyer if your spouse hasn't already shown you what you need to know.

---

A HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY TO MY IRISH READERS:
May you always have
A sunbeam to warm you
Good luck to charm you
And a sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you
Laughter to cheer you

Faithful friends near you

And whenever you pray, heaven to hear you.