<span style="color: #222222;">In Iraq, at least 12 people were killed and several wounded when a bomb exploded in a minibus packed with passengers outside the holy city of Karbala last night.<br />''<br />''The explosion occurred when the bus was passing through an army checkpoint, about 10 kilometers south of Karbala in the direction of the town of al-Hilla. The officials said all those killed in the explosion and subsequent fire in the bus were civilians. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. </span>