Aim for inclusion, Obama urges Iraq

Aim for inclusion, Obama urges Iraq

SEOUL, South Korea

President Barack Obama is urging Iraqi leaders involved in a fragile power-sharing deal to aim for an “inclusive government” for the country.

The White House said in a statement from Seoul, where Obama is attending economic meetings, that the president spoke in recent days with Iraqi politicians including Ayad Allawi, head of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, and would be speaking shortly with Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Al-Maliki is attempting to form the next government after an eight-month deadlock, but the Sunnis staged a walkout just a day after the accord was reached.

Film producer De Laurentiis dies

NEW YORK

He was a small man who dreamed big, hit the highest heights and failed like few others.

Dino De Laurentiis was born to be a movie producer.

The Academy Award-winning legend of the Italian New Wave and producer of “Serpico” and “Barbarella” who helped revolutionize the way movies are bankrolled and helped personify the no-limits life of a cinematic king, died Wednesday night at the age of 91 in Beverly Hills.

His dozens of credits included the art-house classics “La Strada” and “Nights of Cabiria,” the cult favorite “Blue Velvet,” the Hollywood epics “War and Peace” and “The Bible,” and such mainstream hits as “Three Days of the Condor.”

Murkowski camp cries foul in count

JUNEAU, Alaska

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s campaign on Thursday accused observers for rival Joe Miller of challenging properly cast write-in ballots in an effort to drag out the heated Alaska Senate race and “delay the inevitable.”

Shortly after the second day of write-in ballot counting began, a Miller observer challenged a vote for Murkowski that appeared to have her name spelled and printed correctly, though the “L” in “Lisa” was in cursive handwriting.

At another table, at least 10 ballots in which Murkowski’s name appeared readable were challenged, including one in which the vote read: “Lisa Murkowski Republican.”

Miller’s campaign said observers simply are challenging votes that don’t meet the strict letter of the law.

Amazon no longer sells pedophile book

NEW YORK

Amazon is no longer selling a self-published guide for pedophiles.

It wasn’t clear whether Amazon.com Inc. had pulled the item or whether the author withdrew it. Amazon did not immediately return messages Thursday, and the author, Phillip R. Greaves II of Pueblo, Colo., declined to comment through a representative.

The availability of the book calls into question whether Amazon has any procedures — or even an obligation — to vet books before they are sold in its online stores.

Peace-prize winners unite against nukes

HIROSHIMA, Japan

The Dalai Lama and other Nobel Peace laureates from the last four decades gathered today to support the end of nuclear weapons at a hotel a few miles from ground zero of the world’s first atomic-bomb attack.

The award winners also were focused on the plight of those who couldn’t attend the annual World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates — including this year’s winner, jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, and Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s detained pro-democracy activist who won in 1991.

Associated Press