The official start to Ramadan was punctuated with violent attacks around Iraq today, including an assault on a police station and the discovery of more apparent victims of sectarian death squads in the capital.

PAKISTAN paid a high price for a series of dropped catches as unbeaten hundreds from Alastair Cook and Paul Collingwood put England in a strong position on the first day of the first Test at Lord’s yesterday.

Masked gunmen stopped two minivans carrying students north of Baghdad, ordered the passengers off, separated Shiites from Sunni Arabs, and killed the 21 Shiites “in the name of Islam", a witness said.

The bodies of 31 men were found dumped at eight sites in Iraq, most of them in predominantly Shiite parts of Baghdad, police said today.