Many dead or injured in suicide attack

A suicide blast in the Sri Lankan town of Anuradhapura has killed at least 27 people, including a former senior general, according to the army. Maj Gen Janaka Perera, a controversial commander in the Jaffna peninsula in the 1990s, died alongside his wife. More than 80 people were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside the United National Party office near a bus depot, officials said. They blamed the attack on separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.