A car bomb exploded Thursday in Baghdad’s biggest Shiite district, killing seven people and injuring 15, officials said. Iraq’s prime minister insisted that Iraqi forces were ready to take over security duties in most provinces despite rising violence. U.S. officials confirmed that the number of roadside bombs directed against U.S. and Iraqi forces increased sharply last month, dramatizing the threat posed by the Sunni-led insurgency despite attention directed to sectarian violence in the capital. Full Story