NAZRAN, Russia – Russian riot police fired warning shots into the air and beat demonstrators who tried to rally on Saturday against alleged vote-rigging in the Muslim region of Ingushetia, a witness said.

JERUSALEM – Israeli police shot a Palestinian who had stabbed an Israeli border policeman near Jerusalem on Saturday, Israeli police and ambulance workers said.

BAGHDAD – Iraqi security forces have begun a “decisive” final offensive against al Qaeda in Iraq to push the Sunni Islamist militants out of their last major stronghold in the north, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Friday.