BBC News with Neil Nunes

There's been widespread international

condemnation

of the Christmas Day bomb attacks in Nigeria that have killed almost 40 people. Thirty-five people were killed in the first bomb blast at a Roman Catholic church near Abuja; four others died in attacks elsewhere in the country. Brenda Marshall has this report.

Describing the attacks as "senseless violence", the White House offered

condolences

to those who had lost loved ones and help for Nigeria to bring those responsible to justice. Political leaders in Britain, France, Germany and Italy

decried

the attacks as "cowardly". The Vatican called the bombings absurd "terrorist violence" that inflamed hatred. The president of the Christian Association of Nigeria condemned them as "barbaric". The militant Islamist group Boko Haram, which is locked in a violent struggle with the Nigerian authorities, said it carried out the attacks.

The American Vice-President Joe Biden has called the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to discuss recent violence and political turmoil. Tensions have increased in Iraq since an arrest warrant was issued against the Sunni Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi over allegations he had run hit squads - charges he strongly denies. Shahzeb Jillani reports.

Mr Biden's phone call to the Iraqi prime minister on Christmas Day followed an earlier conversation he had with the Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani. Washington is keen to ensure Iraq's national unity government survives recent tensions. Along with