More than 70 people were killed in a string of attacks across Iraq on Monday, including 37 Shiites preparing for an annual pilgrimage, among them a group who were pulled out of a bus and shot dead on the roadside, the police said. The violence followed 19 killings over the weekend, putting December on track to become one of the bloodiest months in the country in five years. On Monday, 12 Shiite pilgrims heading to Baghdad from the northern city of Mosul were taken out of their bus and killed, the police said. The pilgrims were on their way to the capital to begin a procession on foot to the city of Karbala for Arbaeen, an annual commemoration of the 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. In southern Baghdad, two car bombs targeting the pilgrims killed 25 Shiites and wounded 50 […]