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test of its stability.
• The results will not directly affect the shape of Iraq's national government. But the vote will be an important barometer of support for Iraq's various political blocs heading into 2014 parliamentary elections, and the outcome could exacerbate the country's already strained sectarian tensions.
• Saturday's vote will also test the Iraqi army and police, who face a reviving al-Qaida insurgency and are for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion securing an election on their own.
• As in past elections, officials have ratcheted up security precautions to thwart attempts by insurgents to disrupt the vote.
• Security cordons are set up around polling places, and only authorized vehicles are being allowed on the streets in major cities. Voters dipped an index finger in ink after casting ballots to ensure each person voted only once.
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• Attorney: Scant evidence linking Miss. man to ricin-laced letters sent to president, senator
• OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Federal authorities have scant evidence linking a Mississippi man to the mailing of ricin-laced letters to the president and a senator, his attorney says.
• Christi McCoy said after a court hearing Friday that the government has offered no evidence to prove her client, Paul Kevin Curtis, had possession of any ricin or the seed from which it is extracted -- castor beans. An FBI agent testified during the hearing that he could not say if investigators had found ricin at Curtis' home, and McCoy said the evidence linking the 45-year-old to the crime so far has hinged on his writings posted online.
• He is adamant that he did not do this, and she said she has seen nothing to prove him wrong.
• Curtis was ushered into the courtroom before the hearing began in an orange jail jumpsuit and shackles. He turned to face a young woman in the audience before the hearing and whispered, "I didn't do it."
• Prosecutors had wanted to delay the hearing because searches of Curtis home and car had not been completed and DNA and other tests are pending.
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