OTTAWA (AFP) — Canada’s parliament voted on Thursday to extend its 2,500-strong troop deployment in volatile southern Afghanistan to 2011, as long as NATO allies back them up.

NATO urged Russia on Wednesday to tone down its “fiery rhetoric” after repeated Moscow attacks on the growing influence of the military alliance and US plans to base parts of a missile shield in Europe.

Ex-Soviet Moldova wants major powers to sign a declaration guaranteeing its neutrality, its president said, a step that could ease the way for a peace deal over its breakway Transdniestria region.