European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana would table a report on Iran’s attitude to engagement in nuclear talks whether or not there will be a new meeting with Iran’s nuclear envoy, his spokeswoman said on Friday.

Georgia lifted a nine-day state of emergency on Friday and President Mikhail Saakashvili appointed a new prime minister as he prepared to run in a snap presidential election next year.

Europe’s election watchdog on Friday scrapped plans to monitor Russia’s December 2 parliamentary vote blaming obstruction from Moscow, but Russia hit back saying it suspected Washington may have been behind the move.

Russia’s scheduled presidential election will take place on March 2 next year, local media quoted the speaker of parliament’s upper house as saying on Friday.

The head of the Turkish state lottery was shot dead in his office by a former lottery employee on Friday, the state-run Anatolian news agency said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin could run for re-election in next year’s presidential vote if he resigns early to get around a ban on serving three consecutive terms, a lobbyist close to the Kremlin has said.

Pakistan freed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto from house arrest shortly before a top U.S. diplomat began a visit on Friday aimed at persuading President Pervez Musharraf to end emergency rule.

One posed for a photo as she scrubbed a Palestinian corpse. Another stripped a man to his underwear and then beat him. A third helped cover up the abuse of a young boy.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday urged the people of Gaza to oust his Islamist rivals who seized control of the territory in June, as he seeks a lasting peace with Israel.

 Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will announce a freeze in West Bank settlement expansion as a gesture towards the Palestinians at a US peace meeting this month, a senior official said Thursday.