The deal, hammered out over more than 10 days of negotiations overseen by Britain and Ireland, averts the threatened collapse of the British province’s power-sharing institutions.

The Northern Ireland assembly will vote on the issue March 9.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton applauded the deal, saying in a statement: “Today, Northern Ireland has taken another important step toward a full and lasting peace.”

– Financial Times

IRAQ

At least 28 killed in attacks on pilgrims

Two attacks targeting Shiite pilgrims returning from the holy city of Karbala killed at least 28 people Friday, the latest in a series of bombings that appear to be designed to discredit Iraqi security forces and inflame sectarian tension.

The deadliest attack was a bombing near Hindia, a village northeast of Karbala, which is south of Baghdad.

Iraqi police officials said a suicide bomber in a vehicle killed at least 27 people and wounded at least 75, although Karbala Gov. Amal-Din al-Hir said in a televised news conference that the attack in Hindia involved mortar shells, not a car bomb. It was not clear which account was accurate.