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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama said on Thursday he would reject public financing of his campaign against Republican John McCain, reversing an earlier stance and positioning himself to outspend McCain in the White House race.

ABUJA (Reuters) - The U.S. captain of an oil supply vessel operating off Nigeria was kidnapped by gunmen on Thursday, shortly after they attacked Royal Dutch Shell's main offshore oilfield, the Nigerian navy said.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's run-off presidential election on June 27 is very unlikely to be free and fair, African nations said, and the United States called for a tougher international response to worsening pre-poll violence.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Mexico asked the World Court on Thursday to take urgent steps to stop imminent U.S. executions of five Mexicans on death row who were denied their rights to consular assistance.

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Iran said on Thursday it was ready to negotiate over a new package of economic incentives put forward by major powers seeking to persuade Tehran to curb its nuclear work.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - A powerful Hindu-nationalist political party in western India has called for Hindu suicide squads to counter Islamic terrorism, causing outrage and embarrassing the national opposition with which it is allied.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia warned on Thursday it might have to use force against Georgia if Russian peacekeepers were attacked again in its southern neighbor.

YANGON (Reuters) - Pro-junta thugs broke up a rally by supporters of Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday, detaining three people among a crowd chanting for her release on her 63rd birthday, a senior opposition member said.

AMARA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces launched a crackdown on Shi'ite militias in the southern city of Amara on Thursday, the latest drive in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's campaign to impose order in Iraq.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan and NATO-led forces killed or wounded hundreds of Taliban on Thursday in an offensive to clear the militants from the outskirts of Kandahar city, the provincial governor said.

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Iran said on Thursday it was ready to negotiate over a new package of economic incentives put forward by major powers seeking to persuade Tehran to curb its nuclear work.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Brussels-based journalists' rights group has welcomed criminal charges against three men in the killing of Russian reporter Anna Politkovskaya, but said those who ordered the murder must be held accountable.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called on investors in the liberalizing power sector not to stuff their "stomachs" with quick profits and pledged harsh treatment for those not respecting national and social interests.

KABUL (Reuters) - Four U.S. helicopter engines worth more than $13 million have been stolen while they were being trucked from Afghanistan to a port in Pakistan to be shipped home, the U.S. military said.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Lured by tax-free jobs and cheap living, foreign workers have long gravitated to wealthy Gulf Arab states to earn a better living, but rising costs are now forcing many to go home.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's embattled president apologized on Thursday for a U.S. beef import deal that sparked street protests and said he will sack top aides but analysts said that might not be enough to reverse a slide in public support.

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) - Gunmen have killed the police administrative director in the violent Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, the latest high-profile killing in Mexico's drug war, police said on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - China promised to make improvements to human rights ahead of the Olympic Games but its record may have actually deteriorated in the run-up to the events in August, a human rights activist and writer says.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives struck a deal on Wednesday on legislation to provide $162 billion in new funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, ending a long standoff with the White House.

FENGKAI, China (Reuters) - When the people of Fengkai were warned that the rivers in their south China town were going to overflow, they knew what to do.