The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday found Russia responsible for the death of three Chechens during an armed raid in the restive province’s capital, and ordered Moscow to pay their relative €60,000 (US,428) in damages.

Amnesty International said on Wednesday Russian authorities were arresting and harassing critics such as opposition leader Garry Kasparov to silence them in the run-up to the December 2 parliamentary elections.

Turkey’s prime minister said on Friday his cabinet had authorized the armed forces to conduct a cross-border operation against Kurdish PKK rebels in northern Iraq, but analysts said major action did not appear imminent.

A Syriac Christian priest kidnapped this week in southeast Turkey was released unharmed on Friday.“The priest was released in good condition…,” Batman province Deputy Governor Aziz Mercan told Reuters.

Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto published her manifesto for a January election on Friday, promising jobs for the poor if victorious but keeping open the option of boycotting the vote.

With no customers in sight at his bazaar jeans stall, 23-year-old Mohammad Asad Khan is sick of political turbulence in Pakistan that he says is ruining his business.

Israel’s top court has upheld a government decision to reduce the Gaza Strip’s fuel imports, but postponed planned electricity cuts to the Hamas-ruled territory, Israeli officials said on Friday.

A former Russian security service officer who said the Kremlin was behind the murder of fellow ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko was released from a prison in the Urals on Friday.

President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Friday suspending Russia’s participation in a key post-Cold War arms treaty, a move which could allow it to deploy more forces close to western Europe.

SARAJEVO (Reuters) – Bosnia’s Serb, Muslim and Croat leaders averted a crisis at the 11th hour on Friday by agreeing to back a controversial voting reform measure requested by the country’s international peace envoy.