Sofia – A delegation from the European Parliament has been visiting a site near Bulgaria’s Rila Mountain national park, where activists claim illegal construction is damaging the environment.

Pristina – Kosovo Albanians have found their second home in Switzerland from where they have continued to help their homeland, Kosovo’s President said during a trip to the country.

GAZA, Oct. 29 – Hamas on Wednesday called on Egypt to open its border with Gaza Strip to allow movement of people in and out of Gaza Strip.

GAZA, Oct. 29 – Israel removed cloths and shoes from the list of goods that were allowed into Gaza Strip after Egypt brokered a ceasefire there, a Palestinian official said on Wednesday.

JERUSALEM, Oct. 29 – The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is expected to last until after Israel’s upcoming early general election in mid-February, local news service Ynet reported Wednesday.

WAM, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani rescuers pulled 160 bodies from the rubble of hundreds of mud-walled homes flattened by a powerful earthquake in the southwestern province of Baluchistan on Wednesday, government officials said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday ratified treaties with the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia that will allow Moscow to station thousands of troops there.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Syria called on the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to take action to prevent a repeat of a weekend U.S. attack on Syrian territory, and to hold the United States accountable.

DAMASCUS (Reuters) – A Syrian court sentenced 12 dissidents to 2-1/2 years each in prison on Wednesday for political crimes after they had called for democratic reforms.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. helicopter attack into Syria this week underscores the Bush administration’s determination to cross borders when it can strike an enemy target, and to weather any international backlash.