ATHENS, Greece (CNN) — Defying police presence and a thunderous downpour, dozens of Greek pagans huddled near the Parthenon in Athens on Sunday, holding a protest prayer for a museum being built at the foot of the sacred site.

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says it is weighing its options following the arrival of more NATO vessels in the Black Sea, according to reports.

Russia’s Ambassador to the EU has warned that the bloc will lose out by suspending long-delayed talks on a framework for new relations as retaliation for the military campaign in Georgia.

Europe has agreed to help rebuild war-devastated Georgia, but rebuilding relations with Russia may take longer. EU leaders decided to put new partnership talks with Moscow on hold if Russian troops are not withdrawn from Georgia soon. President Sarkozy will go to Moscow next week to reinforce Europe’s position.

An Israeli court has convicted two border guards over the unlawful killing of a Palestinian teenager in the West Bank town of Hebron in 2002.

Lauren Booth, human rights activist and sister-in-law of the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, has said she is being prevented from leaving Gaza.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia praised the European Union on Tuesday for taking a “responsible approach” to its conflict with Georgia by declining to impose sanctions on Moscow but said the EU had failed to understand its reasons for intervening.

NAZRAN, Russia (Reuters) – Police in the Russian region of Ingushetia used batons to break up an anti-government protest on Tuesday, a human rights campaigner said, two days after police shot dead an opposition leader.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi security forces began a push on Tuesday to evict people squatting in Baghdad homes that were abandoned by residents fleeing sectarian violence, a military spokesman said.

SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – The European Union’s rejection of sanctions on Russia is positive but it is disappointing the bloc does not understand the Kremlin’s motives in Georgia, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.