Shiite clerics gain more power in pact

Shiite clerics gain more power in pact

BAGHDAD

An agreement to form an alliance between Iranian-backed Shiite blocs gives the final say on political disputes to Iraq’s top clerics, solidifying a role for the Shiite religious leadership in the country’s likely new government.

The agreement, obtained by The Associated Press Wednesday, is likely to alienate Iraq’s other religious and ethnic sects from the potential new government — especially minority Sunnis already wary of the Shiite-dominated leadership. The U.S. has warned against excluding Sunnis for fear that sidelining the Sunni-backed election winner could inflame tensions.

Mayor seeks feds’ help with police

NEW ORLEANS

The new mayor of New Orleans asked the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday to send a team to help overhaul the city’s corruption-plagued police department, which already is the subject of several federal investigations.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu requested a team from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in a letter sent two days after he took office. Landrieu also has said he plans to announce his choice for a new police chief this week. Former chief Warren Riley resigned Monday with the advent of the new administration.

TV-station worker wins $266M jackpot

LOS ANGELES

A TV-newsroom employee found out while working the graveyard shift that she and her husband have the Mega Millions ticket worth $266 million, her boss at KNBC said Wednesday.

Assignment manager David Reese said the newly minted millionaire called him at 2:30 a.m. to share her good news. Then she finished her shift and asked her colleagues to keep her name a secret until she’s ready to step forward, Reese said.

Cases of syphilis skyrocket in China

Every hour a baby is born in China with syphilis, as the world’s fastest-growing epidemic of the disease is fueled by men with new money from the nation’s booming economy, researchers say.

The easy-to-cure bacterial infection, which was nearly wiped out in China five decades ago, is now the most commonly reported sexually transmitted disease in its largest city, Shanghai.

Prostitutes, along with gay and bisexual men, many of whom are married with families, are driving the epidemic, according to a commentary published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

13 Afghans die in suicide attacks

KABUL

Taliban suicide bombers disguised as police attacked a government compound Wednesday in southwestern Afghanistan in an assault that left 13 people dead, including a provincial council member and all nine attackers, authorities said.

Eight of the bombers blew themselves up, and police shot the ninth, President Hamid Karzai’s office said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as the provincial council was meeting in Zaranj, the capital of Nimroz province. The militant group said the council was trying to turn Afghans against the militants.

13 nations, UN offer to help with oil spill

WASHINGTON

The State Department says officials are considering offers of assistance from 13 countries and the United Nations to help with the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Canada and Mexico are among those offering equipment and experts in containing and cleaning up the leak from the BP oil rig that exploded April 20.

Also offering aid are Britain, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the U.N. Environmental Program.

Associated Press