Moscow

Putin announces candidacy

President Vladimir Putin told Russians on Thursday that he will seek a second term in the March 14 election, turning a televised question-and-answer session into the unofficial start of his campaign.

Facing more than two hours of questions on topics ranging from mortgage loans and foreign policy to his new puppies, the president boasted of economic improvements and asserted that Russia has regained a measure of respect on the world stage.

He said Russia was “a country that is standing firmly on its feet and developing intensively.”

Asked if he will run for re-election, he said “the answer is affirmative” and a more formal announcement would come soon.

London

Princess Diana inquest set

Six years after Princess Diana’s fatal car crash, the royal coroner on Thursday announced an inquest next month into her death — an inquiry that could help dispel lingering suspicions of a conspiracy to kill the princess.

A French court ruled in 2002 that the Aug. 31, 1997, crash in Paris was an accident caused by drunk and speeding driver Henri Paul. But Egyptian-born billionaire Mohammed al Fayed, whose son, Dodi, died with Diana, claims they were murdered.

Michael Burgess, the British royal family’s coroner, said the inquest into Diana’s death, and a separate inquest into Dodi Fayed’s, would open Jan. 6.

Washington, D.C.

U.S. pushes N. Korea talks

A senior U.S. official expressed optimism Thursday that six-party talks on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs would be convened in January or February, although the communist regime has yet to agree.

The official gave his assessment amid reports of a dispute between U.S. and Chinese officials over the wording of a document meant to provide the framework for the talks.

Sources close to the negotiations said the Bush administration had rewritten a Chinese-drafted statement to include the long-standing U.S. demand that North Korea agree to verification of any disarmament deal.

Beijing reportedly wanted vaguer language.