BUFFALO, New York (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate John McCain appeared to leave a door open on Monday to a large-scale drawdown of U.S. troops from Iraq in the next two years.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fire-brand Socialist, will sign arms and energy deals during a visit to Moscow which started on Tuesday, moves likely to further strain ties between Russia and the United States.

KABUL (Reuters) – More than 10,000 ethnic Hazaras protested in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, calling for President Hamid Karzai to resign over killings of their kin by rival Kuchi nomads.