North Iraq bomb attacks kill 25

17 December 2012 Last updated at 16:54 GMT Two bombs exploded in a Shia district of Tuz Khurmatu At least 25 people have been killed in a series of bomb blasts across Iraq, officials and medical workers say.

Car and truck bombs were detonated mainly in ethnically diverse towns and villages in northern Iraq.

The area is a source of dispute between the Iraqi government and the Kurdish minority, which governs an autonomous region in the north.

The attacks mark a second consecutive day of violence in the region, though it is unclear who is behind them.

The bloodiest attack was in a village near the city of Mosul, when a truck bomb exploded killing seven people, officials said.

The village is inhabited by families from the Shabak ethno-religious minority group.

Two car bombs also exploded in a Shia district of Tuz Khurmatu, a town 70km (45 miles) south of Kirkuk, killing five people and wounding at least 24 others.

There were also reports of bombings targeting Shia pilgrims heading to city of Samarra, as well as deadly bomb attacks in the capital Baghdad.

Disputed territories

On Sunday at least nine people were killed and dozens wounded when blasts struck three Shia Muslim targets in the city of Kirkuk and an office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in the town of Jalula, to the south-east.

Kirkuk and Jalula are in oil-rich territories that border the area administered by the Kurdish regional government, which claims rights over them.

They have been a potential flashpoint since the last US troops left a year ago.

Last month, both the government and Kurdish authorities sent troops to reinforce military positions in the disputed territories.

No groups have claimed responsibility for the bombings, but the mayor of Tuz Khurmatu Shalal Abdul told Reuters: "The bombers are trying to stir tensions, but we are telling them we will be more unified by these attacks."

Although sectarian violence has decreased in Iraq since the height of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007, attacks are still common.

Gun and bomb attacks on a Shabak family near Mosul and Shia in Tuz Khurmatu left several dead and injured on a single day in October.

The Shabak, who number about 50,000 and live between the Mosul plane and Baashiqa, have their own distinct language and belief system.

They are sometimes described as Ahl al-Haqq, a sect which venerates Ali. Others believe they are Shia or followers of Yarsanism, sharing its belief in seven good and evil spirits. They are also said to believe in a universal spirit and practise some Christian rites.

The Shabak are said to be of Turkic, Persian or Kurdish ethnic origin. Some speak Gorani, a dialect of Kurdish, while others speak a Turkic dialect. In recent decades, many Shabak have become Arabised.

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Doubts over North Korea satellite

18 December 2012 Last updated at 12:54 GMT The UN said the rocket launch was a breach of sanctions imposed on North Korea North Korea appears to be struggling to control a satellite it put into orbit last week, a space expert has said.

The Unha-3 satellite was launched on board a long-range rocket on 12 December, in defiance of sanctions and international warnings.

Pyongyang says the device, the size of a washing machine, is working and is beaming revolutionary songs to Earth.

But US astronomer Jonathan McDowell says it may be tumbling, and does not yet appear to be transmitting.

"Those two things are most consistent with the satellite being entirely inactive at this point," he told the New York Times.

The satellite was designed to point towards Earth, but Mr McDowell said the light coming from it was repeatedly brightening and dimming, indicating it was not yet operating as intended.

"The preponderance of the evidence suggests that the satellite failed either during the ascent or shortly afterwards," he said.

He told the Associated Press news agency that the the device was still completing its orbits, and whether working or not, would remain in space for years to come.

Continue reading the main story Jonathan Marcus BBC diplomatic correspondent

While this effort at launching a satellite into orbit has gone much better than the previous attempts, most experts believe that this was not the most important purpose of the mission.

The rocket technology needed to lift a satellite into orbit is similar to that required for a long-range ballistic missile.

The real success of this mission, say experts, may be the fact that the three stages of the rocket fired and separated successfully, marking yet another step towards North Korea's ability to field an intercontinental range ballistic missile.

Stuart Eves, principal engineer at Surrey Satellite Technology in the UK, said it was too early to say that the satellite was dead.

He stressed that any spacecraft would be unstable immediately after launch, and that North Korea could be trying to rectify the problem.

"Depending on how they plan to stabilise it, they may have a problem," he told the BBC.

"We take typically two or three days to get a satellite stable, and we know what we're doing - whereas this is the North Koreans' first try.

"It would be prudent to wait a little longer and monitor the tumble rate to see whether there's any attempt to stabilise it."

However, critics said the North Korean government was likely to view the launch as a success because the real purpose was to test rocket technology.

The UN Security Council condemned the launch, saying it violated two UN resolutions banning Pyongyang from missile tests, passed after its nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009

Further launches planned

The launch last week was North Korea's first successful use of a three-stage rocket to put a satellite into orbit - a similar launch in April failed just after take-off.

The BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says it appears to mark another step towards North Korea's ability to field an intercontinental range ballistic missile.

Such a missile could be used to carry nuclear warheads.

The rocket was celebrated extravagantly in North Korea, with a mass rally held in the capital, Pyongyang.

State media credited the country's new leader, Kim Jong-un, with the success, praising his "endless loyalty, bravery and wisdom".

Pyongyang has said it will carry out further launches.

The US, South Korea and Japan want UN sanctions to be strengthened.

But China - North Korea's main ally - says any UN response should be "conducive to peace" and avoid escalating tensions.

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