On the day of the first session of Iraq’s new parliament today, and within days of the third anniversary of the US-led invasion, the country lie under the shadow of a feared civil war and politicians report a stalemate over the next government.

Eleven people – most of them women and children – were killed when a house was bombed during a US raid north of Baghdad early today, police and relatives said.

Using car bombs and a man with explosives strapped to his body, insurgents killed more than 60 people in three Iraqi cities today, police said.

A car bomb exploded outside a police academy in northern Iraq today, and when police set up a checkpoint to close off the area, a second car bomb exploded nearby, authorities said.