World Briefs

MOSCOW – Working to turn Russia from antagonist to ally, President Barack Obama asked the Russian people Tuesday to "forge a lasting partnership" with the US, but he acknowledged after talks with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that on divisive issues there won't be "a meeting of the minds anytime soon."

Obama was wrapping up a two-day stay in Russia, during which he and President Dmitry Medvedev said they were determined by year's end to negotiate a new nuclear arms treaty that would slash both country's arsenals by about one-third.

PAMPLONA, Spain – Thrill-seekers sprinted through Pamplona in a swift and relatively clean start to the running of the bulls. No one was gored on Tuesday, but four people were hospitalized with bumps, bruises or scrapes, Spanish Red Cross spokesman Jose Aldaba said.

URUMQI, China – Han Chinese armed with iron bars and machetes spilled down side streets and into the stairwell of an apartment building on Tuesday, looking for Muslim Uighur targets two days after bloody ethnic clashes killed 156 and wounded more than 1,000.

Chinese riot police used tear gas to try to break up protests in the capital of the Muslim region of Xinjiang and will enforce an overnight curfew to try to quell the violence in which many people were wounded. There were no immediate reports of deaths.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict on Tuesday called for a "world political authority" to manage the global economy and for more government regulation of national economies to pull the world out of the current crisis and avoid a repeat.

TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday sought to put the turmoil over the disputed presidential elections behind him and declared on national television that the contests were clean, fair and marked the start of a new era.

His speech came as the country's top three reformist leaders sought to rekindle their opposition movement, demanding that ruling clerics end the heavy "security atmosphere" imposed after the elections and free those detained in the unrest.

ROME – Police have arrested 36 activists after clashes at a Rome demonstration against this week's Group of Eight summit in central Italy. Protesters with covered faces and helmets blocked roads and set fire to garbage bins near one of the capital's universities.

Several protests have been planned in Rome and in L'Aquila, which will host the Wednesday-to-Friday summit.