1Iraq bombings: A pair of suicide bombings minutes apart hit a central Baghdad market Saturday, killing 28 people and wounding at least 54, police and hospital officials said. The twin attacks hit al-Sinak, a busy commercial district, and prompted security forces to ban traffic from key streets at the center of the Iraqi capital. Minutes after the first suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden belt, the second one struck amid the crowd that gathered, according to the officials, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement posted by its Aamaq news agency, saying the blasts came from a pair of suicide bombers. Later Saturday, three separate attacks in and around Baghdad killed eight people and wounded 17.

2Nigeria violence: In a new video, Boko Haram’s leader denies the Nigerian government claims that his Islamic extremist group has been crushed. President Muhammadu Buhari said recently that soldiers had driven Boko Haram from its last forest enclave, boasting “the terrorists are on the run and no longer have a place to hide.” In a video posted on YouTube, Abubakar Shekau announced: “I am here, well and alive” and that “the battle is just beginning.” He urged his followers, in graphic terms, to continue the campaign. Nigeria’s military has claimed to have killed Shekau at least three times, and earlier last year declared he had been fatally wounded. The 7-year-old Islamic uprising has killed more than 20,000 people.

3Taiwan diplomacy: President Tsai Ing-wen urged China on Saturday to engage in “calm and rational” dialogue to maintain peace, pledging not to give in to Beijing’s recent moves to “threaten and intimidate” the self-ruled island. Tensions have grown since China suspended contacts with Tsai’s administration in June over her refusal to endorse China’s claim that Taiwan and the mainland are part of a single Chinese nation. They were further amplified in December when President-elect Donald Trump broke protocol by speaking with Tsai on the phone and said later he did not feel “bound by a one-China policy.” Beijing has ratcheted up efforts to diplomatically isolate Taiwan.

4Festival injuries: Sixty people were injured at an Australian music festival in the crush of a crowd trying to leave a performance, police said Saturday. None of the injuries at the Falls Music and Arts Festival in Lorne in Victoria state was life-threatening, but 19 people were taken to hospitals with serious injuries, police said. The incident began Friday night when fans were trying to leave a performance by the Australian band DMA’s. Several people at the front of the crowd lost their footing and fell, police said. Some suffered leg, rib, hip and pelvic fractures, head injuries and possible spinal injuries, while others had cuts and abrasions.

5Finland celebrations: A children’s event Saturday at the National Opera in Helsinki kicked off a year of festivities in Finland to celebrate 100 years of independence from Russia. Celebrations will culminate Dec. 6, the day Finnish Parliament declared independence in 1917. Saturday’s events included a concert paired with New Year’s Eve fireworks over Helsinki, the capital. Finland’s Foreign Ministry lit up in the winter darkness by illuminating its facade in the Finnish flag’s blue and white colors.

Chronicle News Services