ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani security forces have killed 25 Islamist militants in fighting on the Afghan border while security was stepped up at airports across the country on Thursday after a telephone threat, officials said.

The Quartet of international powers has “lost its grip” on the Middle East peace process which it is meant to foster, a group of aid agencies says.

MAGADAN, Russia (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev laid flowers at a memorial to victims of the Soviet prison camps on Wednesday, a gesture campaigners said may mark a new readiness to confront Russia’s past.