WORLD BRIEFS

IRAQ: Bomb attacks kill 43, mostly Shia

Back-to-back explosions in the south tore through tents housing Shia pilgrims Thursday, the deadliest in a wave of bombings that killed 43 people nationwide, officials said. The attacks in Hillah began with a roadside bombing near tents set up for Shia commemorating the 17th-century death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussein. That was quickly followed by a car bomb targeting emergency response teams. Earlier, a parked car exploded near the shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala, killing six people.

FRANCE: Airline cleared in SST crash

Continental Airlines was cleared Thursday of criminal responsibility for the Concorde crash in Paris in 2000 that killed 113 people, with a court in Versailles also absolving a mechanic at the U.S. airline of involuntary manslaughter. The appeals court ruling found Continental civilly responsible, however, opening the door to compensation payments to the families of those killed and to the Concorde operator, Air France. The court confirmed that the crash was caused by a metal strip that fell from a Continental DC-10 onto the runway just before the SST took off.

KOSOVO: UN court acquits former leader

Former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj pledged Thursday to political life after a UN war crimes tribunal acquitted him for the second time of murdering and torturing Serbs and their supporters in Kosovo's war for independence. Haradinaj returned to jubilant crowds in Pristina. The verdict was issued in the Hague court's first ever retrial, which was ordered after appeals judges branded the 2008 acquittals of Haradinaj and Kosovo Liberation Army fighters Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj a "miscarriage of justice" because of intimidation of witnesses.

CONGO: Rebels say they'll retreat on time

Rebels who seized Goma in eastern Congo last week and advanced beyond, said Thursday they had pulled back to the town of Sake and were on track to leave Goma by Friday, a deadline imposed by the international community.