Israel allowed around 100 Palestinians stranded for weeks in Egypt to return to the Gaza Strip through the Jewish state on Sunday, the first of some 600 expected to return home in the coming days.

JORDAN ON SUNDAY said it backs the caretaker government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to bring the security situation in the Palestinian lands under control.

King Abdullah on Sunday held talks with visiting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that focused on bilateral ties and regional issues.

Ingush Mujahideen attacked a FSB building and the puppet “administration of the President” in the Ingushetia’s capital Magas last night, Russian sources reported.

For every Chechen male, the building of a house is part of his task in life, on a par with having a large family and raising children, so that he need not be ashamed of them in front of others. For many it is at the very least a lifetime’s work.

Immediately after yesterday’s announcement of the rulings by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in two Chechnya-related cases, press conferences were held in the Russian and Chechen capitals by representatives of the Memorial Human Rights Centre, who gave their assessment of the event.

KABUL, Afghanistan – Political and religious leaders invoked Afghan and Islamic traditions of chivalry and hospitality Sunday in attempts to shame the Taliban into releasing 18 female South Korean captives.

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) – Taliban militants threatened to start killing Monday their 22 South Korean hostages if the government did not accept by noon their demand for the release of jailed rebels.

 GHAZNI, Afghanistan (Reuters) – A female hostage among the remaining 22 Koreans held by Taliban fighters appealed on Saturday for a speedy end to their ordeal, as a senior Afghan official said force may be used to free them if talks fail.

 KABUL, Afghanistan – Two lawmakers — one of them a former Taliban member — and several influential elders have joined negotiations with the hardline militia to step up pressure for the release of 22 South Korean hostages, an official said Saturday.