String of attacks kills 6 in Iraq

Iraqi authorities say a string of attacks have left at least six people dead, including a candidate in the upcoming provincial elections.

Police officials say gunmen attacked two military posts in the northern city of Mosul, killing a total of five soldiers and wounding three others.

Mosul is 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

In Baghdad, gunmen killed Salah Khabat, a candidate in provincial council elections, in a drive-by-shooting.

Hospital officials confirmed Sunday’s death toll. All of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information.

Violence has ebbed in Iraq, but insurgent attacks are still frequent.

Russian tycoon Boris

Berezovsky found dead in UK

Exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky was found dead at his home in the United Kingdom, according to news reports Saturday.

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the death of the 67-year-old Berezovsky, who had survived multiple assassination attempts, including one that killed his chauffeur, the BBC reported.

Reuters cited Russia’s Interfax news agency as reporting Berezovsky died Saturday in London, citing a relative and a Russian lawyer for Berezovsky.

However, the London Telegraph reported Berezovsky died at his estate in Surrey, outside London, and was believed to have died in his bath tub.

The Guardian newspaper reported Berezovsky was found dead Friday night at his home in Surrey, and said there were unconfirmed claims the former power broker in Russia had killed himself.

Berezovsky was a close friend of Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian dissident fatally poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 in London in 2006, according to the Telegraph.

Berezovsky sought exile in Britain and was granted political asylum three years later.

Arms control coalition

disappointed with proposed UN arms treaty

A coalition pushing for strong international arms trade regulation said Saturday it found the latest draft of the proposed United Nations Arms Trade Treaty disappointing.

The new draft submitted by Ambassador Peter Woolcott of Australia, president of the final UN conference on arms trade, covers a narrower range of weapons than previous drafts and is ambiguous on the sale of ammunition, the Control Arms Coalition said.

“We are extremely disappointed and don’t believe this is the best that diplomats can come up with after years of negotiations,” said Anna Macdonald, Oxfam’s head of arms control.

• Associated Press