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Uprising’s Tuesday guest expert Rahul Mahajan, a sociologist and political analyst, and author of Full Spectrum Dominance: US Power in Iraq and Beyond, analyzes today’s news headlines:

More than 70 people were killed and over 200 wounded in a series of attacks in Iraq’s capital today. Iraqi authorities have called the wave of violence in Baghdad this week the worst in the past five years. While the attacks were coordinated it is not yet known who carried them out. A Reuters report attempts to explain the violence saying, “More than two years of civil war in neighboring Syria have aggravated deep-rooted sectarian divisions in Iraq, fraying the country’s uneasy coalition of Shi’ite Muslim, Sunni Muslim and Kurdish factions.” Click here for a Reuters article about the story.

On the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the financial company Merrill Lynch has agreed to a settlement of $160 million over a racial discrimination lawsuit brought on behalf of hundreds of African American staffers. It will be the largest ever payout over a racial discrimination suit in US history. The lawsuit contends that for years the firm steered lucrative deals to white brokers while leading black brokers into clerical positions. Click here for an NBC News article about the story.

We turn next to KPFK correspondent and volunteer coordinator Jessie Wood who is in Washington DC all week and joined us live from the commemoration celebrations in DC where President Obama is getting ready to deliver an address shortly. Click here for a White House Press Release.