WESTPORT, Conn. -- Presumptive Republican U.S. presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, speaking at a global investment firm, tried to move away from several White House policies.In remarks made Wednesday in Westport, Conn., McCain pledged to confer more with congressional leaders on war matters and "be humble" when dealing with foreign leaders, The Washington Post reported Thursday. "I think you need to consult more closely and carefully, not with every member of Congress, but with the ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have begun laying the foundation for funding fall campaigns for the U.S. presidency, their campaigns say.Obama, the Illinois senator battling Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., to be the Democratic presidential nominee, is signaling he may skip public financing for the general election, should he be nominated, The New York Times reported. His campaign says he raised $55 million in February and $40 million in March.McCain, meanwhile, indicated he ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government has embarked on a reported nationwide effort to get law-breaking illegal aliens off the streets and out of the country.The ambitious project, handled by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is expected to cost as much as $3 billion a year to identify and deport as many as 450,000 illegal immigrants locked up annually, the Houston Chronicle reported Thursday.Though connected with only about 10 percent of the nation's 3,100 jails, ICE ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Competing factions of the Republican party appear to be vying for influence in John McCain's bid for the White House, observers say.One component, the so-called pragmatists, some of whom think the Iraq war was a mistake, is showing concern that McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is coming under increased influence of the neoconservatives, credited with playing a major role in making the case for war, The New York Times said Thursday.Concerns ... [full story]

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Greenpeace activists, some of them wearing fox masks, protested in Prague Thursday against plans for a U.S. radar base on Czech soil.The fox disguises were related to the main object of their dispute, Greens Education Minister Ondrej Liska (fox in Czech), who had made allegedly ambiguous statements on the proposed radar installation.The radar base is to be located in the Brdy military district, southwest of Prague, the Czech News Agency said. ... [full story]

JUBA, Sudan -- U.N. and African Union envoys took their mission to resolve the Darfur conflict to Juba Thursday for talks with former Sudanese rebels, a U.N. spokeswoman said.Seeking to get the stalled political process back on track, the United Nation's Jan Eliasson and the African Union's Salim Ahmed Salim met with Salva Kiir, Sudan's first vice president, and members of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement task force on Darfur and the United Resistance Front, ... [full story]

TORONTO -- Toronto police said Thursday they found a 7-year-old boy who vanished after a bloody shoot-out in which his father is a suspect.Staff-Sgt. Al Scott told reporters Calvin Richardson was found in an apartment building with his father, Clement Serjue, Wednesday night. The two were in a different unit from where they live on the ground floor, and both were uninjured, the Toronto Sun reported.Serjue was charged with two counts of attempted murder in ... [full story]

TOKYO -- Japan's governing party has endorsed the government's plan to extend some Japanese sanctions on North Korea for another six months.Government officials said the cabinet is expected to formalize the extension Friday, Kyodo reported Thursday. In endorsing the extension until mid-October, the Liberal Democratic Party cited a lack of a breakthrough regarding North Korea's nuclear program and its kidnapping of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.The sanctions include a ban on port calls ... [full story]

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar Thursday reportedly killed eight civilians, the second such major violent incident this week.The attack, targeting a North Atlantic Treaty Organization convoy transporting Canadian troops, injured 20 others, RIA Novosti reported, quoting an Afghan interior ministry source.The attacker, traveling in a vehicle, blew himself up as the convoy passed, the report said.On Tuesday, Taliban militants killed at least 18 Afghan guards protecting a local road ... [full story]

BEIJING -- A Muslim terrorist ring plot to kidnap athletes and visitors during the Summer Olympic in Beijing has been uncovered, Chinese officials said.Arrests were made in recent weeks after Chinese authorities said they found evidence of terrorists in the Xinjiang region planning attacks on the games, The Times of London reported Thursday. Wu Heping, Ministry of Public Security spokesman, said 35 people had been arrested between March 26 and April 6 for plotting to ... [full story]