1 Crime boss shot: Authorities say Ireland's most notorious crime boss has been shot in a Dublin ambush, but may have survived because he wore body armor. John Gilligan has been at risk of assassination by rivals since his 2013 parole from prison. A gunman narrowly missed him in December. Police said Gilligan, 61, was shot three times at close range when he answered the door at his brother's Dublin home Saturday night. He was hospitalized in critical condition. While serving 17 years in prison on drug trafficking charges, he was acquitted of the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, who wrote several exposes on Gilligan before her 1996 killing by members of Gilligan's gang.
2 Nigerian violence: Two bombs exploded at a crowded marketplace in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Saturday night, and many are feared killed and wounded in the birthplace of the Boko Haram extremist network, witnesses said. Bloodied people screaming for help were running out of buildings billowing with smoke, they said. The second blast caught people trying to help those injured in the first explosion, witnesses said. It appeared to be a car bomb, from a pickup truck loaded with wood.
3 Mission to Yemen: Alarmed by reports of rising civilian casualties in the southern Yemen city Al Dhale, U.N. aid officials are preparing a mission this week to assess the plight of residents caught in the crossfire between government troops and rebels fighting for the south's secession from the north. U.N. officials said the visit to Al Dhale would be the first by international staff members in the last two months, when escalating conflict in the south made the area too insecure to allow them access.
4 Death toll rises: The United Nations said violence across Iraq in February killed 703 people, a death toll higher than the year before as the country faces a rising wave of militant attacks rivaling the bloodshed that followed the U.S.-led invasion. The figures issued by the U.N.'s mission to Iraq is close to January's death toll of 733, showing that a surge of violence that began 10 months ago with a government crackdown on a Sunni protest camp is not receding. Meanwhile, attacks Saturday killed at least five and wounded 14, authorities said. Attacks in February killed 564 civilians and 139 security force members in February, the U.N. said. That compares to February 2013, when attacks killed 418 civilians.
5 Vaccinators attacked: Two bombs went off Saturday in Pakistan's restive northwestern tribal region, killing 10 and injuring 11 policemen who were guarding polio vaccinators, officials said. The men from the tribal Khasardar Force were escorting a team of polio vaccinators in the area of Jamrud in the Khyber district when two vehicles were targeted with separate bombs planted by the road, an official from the tribal administration said. He said the polio workers survived the attacks and that the two vehicles were destroyed.
6 Cigar celebration: Cigar enthusiasts paid more than $1.1 million for six handmade Cuban humidors early Saturday at the gala closing of Havana's 16th annual Cigar Festival. Welsh crooner Tom Jones was among the invitees at the auction and sang three songs, including his signature "It's Not Unusual." "I started smoking Cuban cigars in the '60s and I've never been to Cuba before. So this was a wonderful opportunity to come," Jones said.