Trial won't be fair, Karadzic complains

THE HAGUE - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has called for the genocide and crimes against humanity case against him to be dismissed because negative publicity means he can not get a fair trial. In a three-page filing dated Aug. 24 and released yesterday, Karadzic said any presumption of innocence "has been . . . reduced to a joke" by what he called "demonization in the media." The document's release came just days before Karadzic was due to make his second appearance at the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. On Friday he will be asked by Scottish judge Iain Bonomy to enter pleas to 11 charges. (AP)

CIUDAD JUAREZ - Suspected drug hitmen burst onto a ranch in northern Mexico and opened fire on a family gathering, killing five people in the third big attack in Chihuahua state this month. The gunmen fired on the ranch near the sleepy rural town of Aldama Monday evening, shooting the men, including two brothers and an elderly man, in the head, the state attorney general's office said yesterday. The killings were believed to be part of a drug feud as gangs fight over smuggling routes into the United States. More than 2,300 people have died this year in Mexico's drug war. (Reuters)

MEXICO CITY - Heavy rains have killed at least 50 horses at a Mexico City equestrian club and the 71-year-old watchman who tried to save them, officials said yesterday. A Monday night storm sent mud and floodwaters spilling through the La Barranca horse club, trapping many of the horses in their stalls, said Mexico State emergency director Arturo Vilchis. At least 50 of the horses drowned. Night watchman Emilio Campos died while trying to save the animals, Vilchis said. The equestrian club is located at the end of a tree-lined cobblestone road in a wealthy neighborhood on the edge of Mexico City. (AP)