A car bomb has killed at least 28 people and wounded 30 in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
The explosion happened at a market place.
The latest bloodshed came just hours after a Russian diplomat was killed and four embassy employees kidnapped in Baghdad.
Reports say gunmen in three cars blocked a road and opened fire on the Russian's vehicle.
In the town of Baquba, 60kms northeast of Baghdad, seven Iraqi policemen were killed in an attack on a police checkpoint.
Meanwhile, Iraq has said it will press ahead with its own investigation into the deaths of 11 civilians in a US raid in the town of Ishaqi last March.
It has rejected the US military's finding that there was no misconduct by American soldiers.
