THE HAGUE - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic appeared before a U.N. war crimes judge for the first time to answer genocide charges and said he had been kidnapped and feared for his life. Karadzic was arrested last week after 11 years on the run.
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JERUSALEM - Israel's right-wing Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu has called for an early election to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, whose pledge to resign has deepened uncertainty over Middle East peacemaking.
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RACINE, Wisconsin - Republican White House hopeful John McCain accused Democrat Barack Obama on Thursday of playing racial politics in some of the most biting back-and-forth of the presidential campaign.
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WASHINGTON - U.S. President George W. Bush has held out the prospect of further troop reductions in Iraq later this year as he hailed a new "degree of durability" in security gains there.
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LONDON/NEW YORK - Exxon Mobil Corp broke its own record for the highest-ever quarterly profit for a U.S. company on Thursday, joining other major oil companies in posting stronger earnings on the back of sky-high oil prices.
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JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's highest court has rejected ruling ANC party leader Jacob Zuma's attempt to stop seized evidence being used against him in a corruption trial.
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DAKAR - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said he was "fairly satisfied" with talks with President Robert Mugabe's party to end a political crisis, and said a Monday, Aug. 4 deadline was "not inflexible". Tsvangirai said talks would resume as planned on Sunday with Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.
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UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council is set to renew a mandate for peacekeepers in Darfur in a resolution that will echo African concerns at efforts to indict Sudan's president for war crimes there.
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BEIJING - China has announced a slew of emergency measures in and around Beijing in case air pollution remains poor during the Olympics, including taking more cars off the roads and slashing production at more than 220 factories.
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TOKYO - Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said he would decide whether to reshuffle his cabinet at a meeting with his coalition partner on Friday, as speculation grows that he plans changes to boost his ratings and try to keep his job.
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