In Iraq, the interim governor of Basra was shot dead at a checkpoint earlier this morning. Two others died along side him. Basra is Iraq’s second largest city behind Baghdad. The assassination comes a day after a top defense ministry official was killed in Baghdad and a week after the governor of Mosul was shot dead. In other Iraq news, the Filipino truck driver who had been taken hostage in Iraq has been released. On Monday the Philippines pulled the last of its troops from Iraq.