NEW YORK (Reuters) – Russia’s foreign minister on Wednesday dismissed suggestions by U.S. and European officials that it has become isolated since its war with Georgia and insisted it acted in justifiable self-defense.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice piled new criticism on Russia as she met with its foreign minister on Wednesday in their first encounter since Moscow’s incursion into Georgia last month.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani security forces have killed 25 Islamist militants in fighting on the Afghan border while security was stepped up at airports across the country on Thursday after a telephone threat, officials said.

The Quartet of international powers has “lost its grip” on the Middle East peace process which it is meant to foster, a group of aid agencies says.

MAGADAN, Russia (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev laid flowers at a memorial to victims of the Soviet prison camps on Wednesday, a gesture campaigners said may mark a new readiness to confront Russia’s past.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko vowed on Wednesday his country would be undeterred in its bid for NATO membership despite Russian opposition.

KAMENICA, Bosnia (Reuters) – Forensic experts said on Wednesday they had unearthed the remains of 362 Muslim victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre from a mass grave in eastern Bosnia.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s West Bank barrier is fuelling attacks by East Jerusalem Arabs who feel isolated from fellow Palestinians and are increasingly likely to lash out independently, Israel’s domestic spy service said on Wednesday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the UN General Assembly Tuesday that a few “bullying” world powers are trying to thwart Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Managing Director of the National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NIPC) Gholam Hossein Nejabat said that 20 subsidiaries of the NIPC have been earmarked for privatization.