Insurgents Kill 7 Near Baghdad, Gadhafi's Forces Launch Scud Missile at Rebels

HEADLINES -- August 16, 2011 at 8:36 AM EDT

Insurgents Kill 7 Near Baghdad, Gadhafi's Forces Launch Scud Missile at Rebels

Following on the heels of a series of bombings in more than a dozen Iraqi cities Monday that killed more than 60 people, insurgents dressed in military uniforms pulled seven people from a Sunni mosque in Youssifiyah and executed them later the same day.

The shooters claimed to be from Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida offshoot in the country. Youssifiyah, 12 miles from Baghdad, sits in what was called the Triangle of Death at the height of the insurgency.

Gadhafi Loyalists Launch Scud Missile at Rebels

For the first time in six months of fighting, forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi launched a Scud missile toward an opposition city. The intended target was the city of Brega, but the missile landed in a desert area, and no one was harmed.

Gadfhafi's government is believed to have some 200 scud missiles.

In Syria, 35 Killed in Four Days

Heavy gunfire from Syrian government forces in the city of Latakia has killed 35 people in four days. The violence took place in poor neighborhoods within Latakia, where there is also a Palestinian refugee camp. Syria's state-run television network said that the military was fighting "armed terrorists."

Letter May Show Cover-up at 'News of the World'

Britain's Culture, Media and Sport Committee released letters and documents from "News of the World" that reportedly show that the use of phone hacking -- which caused the paper to shut down as the scandal grew -- was widespread within the company's culture.

According to the BBC:

"Former royal editor Clive Goodman wrote the letter to News International as he appealed against his dismissal in 2007.

"Mr. Goodman said hacking was 'widely discussed' at editorial meetings until talk of it was banned by the editor."

Goodman was convicted of hacking into voicemail and jailed in 2007, but was pinned at the time for acting alone.

File photo by Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

View all of our World coverage and follow us on Twitter.

Beginning October 24, 2012, PBS NewsHour will allow open commenting for all registered users. We hope that the elimination of our moderation process will enable a more organic discussion amongst you, our audience. However, if a commenter violates our terms of use or abuses the commenting forum, their comment will be removed. We reserve the right to remove posts that do not follow these basic guidelines: comments must be relevant to the topic of the post; may not include profanity, personal attacks or hate speech; may not promote a business or raise money; may not be spam. Anything you post should be your own work. The PBS NewsHour reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its website or in any medium now known or unknown the comments or emails that we receive. By submitting comments, you agree to the PBS Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which include more details.