THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic appeared at the U.N.'s Yugoslav war crimes tribunal for the first time Thursday, telling the judge he would defend himself against charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

ISTANBUL, Turkey - A newspaper says police have detained three teenagers in connection to bomb blasts in a crowded Istanbul square that killed 17.

LONDON - Presidential contender Barack Obama was meeting Saturday with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the last leg of his European and Middle Eastern tour.

BERLIN - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as climate and energy issues at Germany's chancellery Thursday, part of a tour aimed at lifting the first-term senator's international standing.

FRANKFURT, Germany - The euro roared to a new high against the dollar on Tuesday, reaching US$1.6038 in European trading as markets worried about the ongoing U.S. lending crisis and the state of the country's economy.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A zookeeper's house cat has adopted a baby red panda abandoned by its mother and is nursing the cub along with her own kittens, the Artis zoo said Wednesday.

RUSUTSU, Japan - The Group of Eight leading industrial nations on Tuesday endorsed halving world emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, edging forward in the battle against global warming but stopping short of tough, nearer-term targets.

RUSUTSU, Japan - Leaders from the Group of Eight industrialized powers are deeply concerned about rising oil and food prices but remain positive about the outlook for the global economy, they said in a communique released Tuesday.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - The global food crisis will only worsen because of climate change, the U.N. climate chief said Friday, urging leaders of the world's richest countries meeting in Japan next week to set goals to reduce carbon emissions within the next dozen years.

MINSK, Belarus - Belarusian lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to a crackdown on Internet journalism, one of the last remaining independent sources of information in the repressive former Soviet republic.

FRANKFURT, Germany - German business confidence fell in June, dragged down by concerns over record high oil prices, a closely watched survey of attitudes in Europe's biggest economy showed Monday.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union on Thursday agreed to lift its diplomatic sanctions against Cuba, but imposed tough conditions on the communist island to maintain sanction-free relations, officials said.

MUNICH, Germany - Stop by for a drink at the Roosevelt cocktail bar and you'll be asked: "Do you have a membership?"

NEW YORK - Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday the country will freeze assets of Iran's largest bank in a further move to discourage the country from developing nuclear weapons, after which he also announced additional troops for Afghanistan.

PRISTINA, Kosovo - Kosovo's government took control of the newly independent nation Sunday as the country's constitution went into force after nine years of U.N. administration.

LONDON - U.S. President George W. Bush said there should be no definitive timetable for the withdrawal of Coalition forces from Iraq, according to a British Sunday newspaper.

ROME - President Bush's vision of a new era of trans-Atlantic relations will last at least seven more months.

MESEBERG, Germany - President Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel both want to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but right now, they're standing on opposite sides of a revolving door. He's on his way out of office. She's trying to stay in.

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia - President Bush opened his last summit with the European Union on Tuesday with a long list of trans-Atlantic issues on his plate — Iran's nuclear ambitions, Afghanistan's woes, climate change, Mideast peace and perhaps even the U.S.-Europe flap over chickens.