SERBIA – Pro-Western Serbian President Boris Tadic faces nationalist challenger Tomislav Nikolic on Sunday in an election that will decide Serbia’s attitude to the West after the imminent loss of breakaway Kosovo province.

KABUL – Around 200 Afghans demonstrated in the capital Kabul on Thursday against the death sentence passed against a reporter convicted of blasphemy.

CAIRO – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected demands on Wednesday by Hamas rivals for control of the breached Gaza-Egypt border and told the Islamist group to “end its coup in Gaza”.