THE HAGUE (Reuters) – The UN’s highest court ordered Russia and Georgia on Wednesday to ensure the security of all ethnic groups in the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and adjacent areas of Georgia.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan and NATO-led forces killed 18 insurgents overnight as dozens of Taliban prepared to attack the capital of the southern province of Helmand for the second time in three days, police said on Wednesday.

BEIJING (Reuters) – Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari reached trade deals with China on Wednesday, raising hopes that Beijing would help his country through difficult economic and diplomatic times.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Russia has walked out of negotiations being held in Geneva on two breakaway Georgian regions, Georgia’s President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Wednesday.

KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) – Police have discovered the decomposing bodies of 22 men dumped in a mass grave in southern Iraq, police and hospital sources said on Wednesday.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria and Lebanon must cooperate in fighting terrorism, the Syrian foreign minister said in comments on Wednesday, linking the threat faced by both neighbors which have recently been targeted by militants.

BAKU (Reuters) – Authorities in Azerbaijan said turnout was high on Wednesday in a presidential election boycotted by the opposition and almost certain to return Ilham Aliyev for a second term in the oil-producing state.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction has rejected a request by Hamas rivals to meet separately ahead of multi-factional reconciliation talks next month in Cairo, Fatah officials said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Three men go on trial on Wednesday for involvement in the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist and Kremlin critic.Politkovskaya, whose reports on Russia’s breakaway Chechnya region detailing rights abuses angered the Kremlin, was shot dead outside her Moscow apartment in 2006.

Iraqi leaders are examining a new draft deal under which US troops would remain in the country after the UN mandate expires later this year, officials say.