In a move set to further strain tensions with the West, deputies in Russia’s Duma have backed Georgian separatists’ battle for independence.

Russia is continuing to frustrate the West over its pullout from Georgia, and is yet to respond to calls for an urgent summit planned for next week. France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy brokered the deal which ended the fighting, but Moscow’s delays have annoyed many governments. Critics are particularly alarmed by …

Hours before the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to arrive, Israel freed dozens of Palestinian prisoners in a gesture aimed at boosting Middle East peace. The group of 198 included the longest-serving prisonner held by Israel. Said al-Atabeh was arrested in 1977 and jailed for life for …