Iraq’s president today said he would call the country’s new parliament into session for the first time on Sunday, starting the clock on a 60-day period during which the legislature must elect a new head of state and sign off on a prime minister and Cabinet.

A combative Saddam Hussein lashed out today over his treatment by US guards and demanded that the chief judge stand up to American “occupiers and invaders” as his trial for crimes against humanity resumed in a heavily guarded Baghdad court.

One day after Iraq’s National Assembly approved the country’s first democratically-elected government, insurgents launched a series of attacks in the country today, killing at least 14 Iraqis and wounding 50, officials said.