VoteKansas.org

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand has begun the lengthy process of trying to extradite former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who skipped bail this week and went into exile in London, a state prosecutor said on Wednesday.

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Angry Muslims mourning at least 20 protesters killed by police torched security bunkers and rioted in Indian Kashmir's main city on Wednesday as a land row with Hindus revived calls for independence.

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - At least 15 people including nine soldiers were killed in Lebanon on Wednesday, according to security sources, in the deadliest attack on the army since a battle with al Qaeda-inspired militants last year.

HANOI (Reuters) - Fresh floods triggered by rains swept away a teenager in northern Vietnam and several boats were destroyed, the government said on Wednesday, as it struggled to deliver aid to thousands of people hit by the worst floods in four decades.

WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - At least nine militants were killed in a missile strike on their training camp in Pakistan's South Waziristan region, near the Afghan border, security officials and residents said on Wednesday.

MANILA (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Wednesday it was concerned about a humanitarian crisis in the southern Philippines where a ferocious battle between government forces and Muslim rebels has displaced about 160,000 people.

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Religious authorities in Nepal have begun the search for a girl who could be as young as three or four to serve as the new Kumari, or the virgin "living goddess", in a centuries-old tradition.

TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea and Japan have agreed terms for a new investigation into Pyongyang's abduction of Japanese people in the 1970s and 1980s, officials said, opening the way for Tokyo to lift some travel sanctions.

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A white powder was found in a parliament building housing the offices of New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark on Wednesday, prompting a partial evacuation.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Wednesday he was still committed to power-sharing negotiations after three days of talks with President Robert Mugabe broke off without a deal.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected an Israeli peace proposal because it does not provide for a contiguous Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, Abbas's office said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co executives, who discussed revised guidelines for a $35 billion refueling aircraft competition with U.S. defense officials on Tuesday, remain discouraged about Boeing's prospects for the work, said a defense analyst and another source briefed on the talks.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has canceled a naval exercise with Russia in protest over Moscow's military operations in Georgia, a senior U.S. defense official said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Republican Leader John Boehner on Tuesday urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call lawmakers back into session to pass a bill expanding drilling in federal waters, now that she was willing to permit a vote on such a measure.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A sizable percentage of New Jersey voters disapprove of Gov Jon Corzine, partly due to his plan to "monetize" the Turnpike, and he now faces a dead heat in a race with a possible Republican gubernatorial candidate, a new poll said on Tuesday.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Three men and a woman were killed in an attack at an ice cream parlor in the German town of Ruesselsheim near Frankfurt on Tuesday, police said.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California may need to increase its spending on education by more than $3 billion to implement a new algebra requirement urged by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state's top school official said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russian integration into international institutions such as the World Trade Organization is at stake because of Moscow's military operations in Georgia, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.

TBILISI (Reuters) - Russia prepared in advance for an invasion of Georgia, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matt Bryza told journalists after flying into Tbilisi on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush still thinks a world trade deal is possible despite a major setback last month and will continue pushing to get one, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said on Tuesday.