A string of suicide attacks and armed assaults in central and northern Iraq on Thursday left at least 19 Iraqis dead and 60 wounded in the second consecutive day of renewed bloodshed. The attacks, a day after a kidnapped American contractor appeared in a videotape surrounded by masked gunmen, echoed the darker days of the insurgency last year. The violence made it clear that the challenges facing the new Iraqi government – which could assume power as soon as Sunday – have not subsided. For the first time, two militant groups claimed in Internet postings that they had collaborated on attacks.Full Story