Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari canceled a meeting Thursday with Iraq’s top political leaders after they agreed to mount a campaign to deny him another term in a bid to jump-start stalled talks on a new government. Al-Jaafari had called the meeting to discuss ways to resolve the political standoff and contain a surge of sectarian killing that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war. Bloodshed claimed at least 21 more lives Thursday. The violence included two bomb attacks in mostly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and an assault by gunmen on an Iraqi checkpoint north of the capital. Full Story