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BERLIN (Reuters) - In their zeal to remove the Berlin Wall, German authorities were ruthlessly efficient in eliminating almost all traces of the hated symbol of the Cold War within months of its opening in 1989.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - After six years in captivity, newly freed French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt launched a psychological campaign this week urging leftist rebels to stop fighting and release remaining hostages.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama could take longer to implement environmental policies than Republican rival John McCain, but he will be greener in the long run, a renewable fund manager said.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran test-fired nine missiles on Wednesday and warned the United States and Israel it was ready to retaliate for any attack over its disputed nuclear projects.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans an "expedited recompetition" for $35 billion worth of new aerial refueling tankers to be overseen by the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer, according to two congressional aides and a third source briefed on the plan.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Taps have run dry in West Bank towns and Palestinians face acute water shortages as dry weather strains supplies already restricted by Israel, residents and the water authority said.

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia on Wednesday accused Russia of sending fighter jets into its airspace to undermine a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is expected to signal firm support for the pro-Western state.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A top U.S. Democratic senator said in a newspaper interview published Wednesday that he would consider supporting opening up new areas for offshore oil and gas drilling.

SOFIA (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday received Bulgaria's top honor for helping to free Bulgarian nurses from a Libyan jail.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama called Iran a threat that should be contained with diplomacy and tighter sanctions on Wednesday, and Republican John McCain said Tehran's missile test proved the need for a missile defense shield in Europe.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Bosnian Serb cousins Milan and Sredoje Lukic were accused on Wednesday of imprisoning and burning alive some 140 Muslims and summarily shooting others in some of the cruelest ethnic cleansing of the Bosnian war.

TOYAKO, Japan (Reuters) - Russia will consider how to retaliate over a planned U.S. missile shield but wants to continue talks on the issue with Washington, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday said Iran is a "great threat" and called for tighter sanctions after it test-fired nine missiles.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe denounced the Group of Eight rich nations' support for sanctions on its officials on Wednesday as part of a colonial and racist effort led by Britain and the United States to install a puppet government.

TOYAKO, Japan (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday Iran should immediately halt development of ballistic missiles and stop conducting tests if it wanted to gain the trust of the world.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Kurdish guerrillas have kidnapped three German tourists on a climbing expedition in eastern Turkey, a local governor said on Wednesday.

PAMPLONA, Spain (Reuters) - An American tourist was gored in the abdomen on the third day of the centuries-old annual bull-running festival in the northern Spanish town of Pamplona on Wednesday, organizers said.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Five regional powers will press North Korea into allowing them to check the account it has given of its plutonium production when sputtering disarmament talks open in Beijing on Thursday for the first time in nine months.

UMM QASR, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's fledgling navy of battered patrol boats is bulking up for a greater role in protecting the country's economic heart, its offshore oil terminals, officials said.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Three Turkish policemen and three gunmen were killed in an attack on the United States consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday, the city's governor said.