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as establishment as they come. He has predicted that he and other mainstream Republicans will "crush" tea party candidates this year.
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Thai army chief assumes role as mediator, uses martial law to promote crisis talks
• BANGKOK (AP) -- Thailand's army chief assumed the role of mediator Wednesday by summoning the country's key political rivals for face-to-face talks one day after imposing martial law. Residents, meanwhile, tried to make sense of the dramatic turn after six months of turmoil.
• Around Bangkok there was little sign of tension, and most soldiers that had occupied key intersections in the capital a day earlier had withdrawn. Across the country, people went about their work normally. Students went to school, and the usual tourist droves crowded luxury resorts, relaxing on white sand beaches unfazed by the crisis.
• Martial law for now appeared to be playing out primarily behind closed doors, as army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-Ocha "invited" the key powerbrokers in the country's latest political crisis to meet for the first time since it escalated six months ago.
• The army interrupted regular programming on national television to announce the Wednesday afternoon meeting at Bangkok's Army Club, which it said was being called "to solve the political conflict smoothly."
• Many of the country's highest profile political figures were summoned. They included the acting prime minister -- who sent four representatives in his place -- and the anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, as well as Suthep's rival from the pro-government Red Shirt group, Jatuporn Prompan.
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Russian Defense Ministry says its forces near Ukraine are en route to home bases
• MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's military units in the regions near Ukraine on Wednesday began moving to railway stations and airfields en route to their home bases, the defense ministry said.
• Military units in the Belgorod, Bryansk and Rostov regions started marching back and are expected to arrive at their home bases before June 1, the defense ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.
• Yet NATO, which estimates that Russia has 40,000 troops along the border with (Continued on page 28)
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