Suicide blast amid Iraqi pilgrims kills 54

A suicide bomber detonated her explosives inside a way station for Shiite pilgrims yesterday, killing 54 people and rattling security officials who are struggling against a possible rise in violence before elections next month. The attack was the third major strike by suspected Sunni insurgents in a week. Top security official acknowledged that the extremists were adopting new methods - such as stashing explosives deep inside the engines or frames of vehicles - to outwit bomb-detection squads. A similar warning about new tactics came last week from the chief U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. Raymond Odierno, after a two-day wave of suicide car bombings struck three hotels in Baghdad and the city's main crime lab, killing 63 people.