Turkey’s prime minister denied on Wednesday carrying out aerial strikes this week against Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq, but the government reaffirmed its readiness for a cross-border operation if deemed necessary.

Georgia will lift its state of emergency in two days, Parliament Speaker Nino Burjanadze said on Wednesday, but a court order looked set to keep the main opposition television station off the air.

Iran’s intelligence minister accused a former nuclear negotiator on Wednesday of supplying information to Britain in violation of the Islamic Republic’s security interests, an Iranian news agency reported.