hSectarian violence in Iraq

hSectarian violence in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq’s prime minister has appealed to President Bush to hand over Saddam Hussein’s cousin, known as “Chemical Ali,” and two other former regime officials sentenced to hang for a 1980s crackdown against Kurds, two government officials said Thursday, the same day sectarian violence killed two in Kirkuk, where family members (above) mourned outside a hospital. A formal request from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki threatened to strain relations with U.S. officials — who have refused to surrender the men — and incite a backlash from Sunni Arabs as sectarian violence is ebbing.

AIDS worries in China

BEIJING — Sex has overtaken drug use as the main cause of HIV infections in China, leading to worries the disease may spread outside of high-risk groups into the general population, according to experts and a report released Thursday. There were an estimated 50,000 new cases of HIV in 2007 taking the total to 700,000 people living with the virus in China, said the report issued jointly by UNAIDS and a committee of the State Council, China’s Cabinet. Despite a fall in the rate of new cases from when data was last collected in 2005, infections were still spreading and sex — not intravenous drug use — was now the main form of transmission, Health Minister Chen Zhu said at a news conference.

Quit meddling, Putin says

MOSCOW — Vladimir Putin called his critics foreign-funded “jackals” and accused the West of meddling in Russian politics in a scathing speech Wednesday meant to drum up support for the main pro-Kremlin party. The thunderous attack came as Russia heads toward parliamentary elections Sunday that have turned into a plebiscite on Putin and whether he should retain power after stepping down as president next year after two consecutive terms. Thousands of flag-waving supporters who packed a Moscow sports arena for the speech joined in chants urging Putin to remain Russia’s “national leader.” It isn’t clear what formal title he might hold, but he heads the ticket of the dominant United Russia party and has suggested he could become prime minister. Opinion surveys suggest the party will win two-thirds of the votes and a crushing 80 percent of the lower house of parliament’s 450 seats.

A warning from Olmert

JERUSALEM — In unusually frank comments, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned in an interview published Thursday that “the state of Israel is finished” if a Palestinian state is not created, saying the alternative was a South African-style apartheid struggle. The explosive reference to apartheid came as Olmert returned from a high profile peace conference in Annapolis, Md., hoping to prepare a skeptical nation for difficult negotiations with the Palestinians.

Bernanke hints at new cut

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted Thursday that another interest rate cut may be needed to bolster the economy. The worsening credit crunch, a deepening housing slump and rising energy prices probably will create some “headwinds for the consumer in the months ahead,” he said. Bernanke said he expects consumer spending will continue to grow and suggested the country can withstand the current problems without falling into a recession.

Associated Press