MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian liberal party accused President Vladimir Putin of abusing his authority in the run-up to Sunday’s parliamentary election that is expected to consolidate his grip on power.

DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) – An explosion injured 44 miners on Saturday at a colliery in eastern Ukraine struck by the country’s worst mining accident two weeks ago, officials said.

LAHORE (Reuters) – Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto is betraying Pakistan by not joining an election boycott that cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan said on Saturday was key to ousting President Pervez Musharraf.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Mazen returned home in Baghdad last week to a bare living room. He had sold his furniture to pay for life in Syria, where he fled in 2003 after the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Suspected al Qaeda militants killed 12 civilians and abducted 35 in an attack on Shi’ite Muslim village north of Baghdad early on Saturday, police said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The number of civilians killed in violence throughout Iraq fell this month to the lowest level in nearly two years, according to government statistics obtained by Reuters on Friday.

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi clerics are not doing enough to discourage militancy among Saudi youth, including those who want to fight in Iraq, Interior Minister Prince Nayef said in comments published on Saturday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Students in Siberia, doctors on the Volga river, and office workers in Moscow say they are being threatened with disciplinary action if they do not vote in Sunday’s parliamentary election.

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul has approved the sackings of seven military personnel suspected of Islamist leanings, the military General Staff said, in a move that may help ease secularist reservations about him.

DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) – A new explosion injured five miners on Saturday at a colliery in eastern Ukraine struck by the country’s worst mining accident two weeks ago, officials said.