World datelines

Netherlands: War crimes

THE HAGUE — Radovan Karadzic's words urging the destruction of Bosnia's non-Serbs rang out in a courtroom Tuesday from speeches and intercepted phone calls as U.N. prosecutors opened their genocide and war crimes case against him.

The former Bosnian Serb leader boycotted his trial for the second day, despite warnings from the war crimes tribunal's presiding judge that he could be stripped of his right to defend himself.

The trial promises to be the judicial climax of the Balkan wars of the early 1990s that left more than 100,000 people dead, most of them victims of Bosnian Serb attacks.

In his opening statement, prosecutor Alan Tieger called Karadzic the "undisputed leader" and "supreme commander" of the Serbs responsible for atrocities throughout Bosnia's brutal four-year war.

Israel: Clinton to visit

JERUSALEM — An Israeli official says U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to arrive in Israel at the weekend to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a fresh attempt to revive stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

An aide to Netanyahu said she was due on Saturday night. He spoke on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement.

Palestinian officials have said in local media interviews over the past few days that Clinton was expected to visit Palestinian leaders in the West Bank next week.

In Washington, the State Department had no comment on Clinton's travel plans, other than to say she would be in Morocco early next week where she would be meeting with various Arab foreign ministers.

Italy: Official resigns

ROME — A prominent opposition politician embroiled in a scandal over his encounter with a transsexual prostitute resigned his high-profile job Tuesday as head of the region that includes Rome.

Piero Marrazzo has said he made mistakes and that he had been living a "nightmare" since the encounter in July in a Rome apartment. Four policemen have been arrested for allegedly attempting to blackmail the 51-year-old Marrazzo, who is married and has three daughters.

"My personal condition of extreme suffering makes my stay at the helm of the region not longer useful for the Lazio citizens," Marrazzo said in a statement announcing his resignation.