CFE Treaty Ratified MOSCOW (AP) -- The State Duma on Friday ratified the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, an agreement setting limits on heavy weapons across the continent. The Duma ratified the agreement by a vote of 355-28, with two abstentions. The treaty was seen to be in Russia's interest, since it allows additional flexibility in deploying its forces between regions, and entails no additional costs for the armed forces. But Moscow had held off on ratification pending commitments from the Baltics states to join the treaty. ""This is one of the most important components of the European system of security,"" Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said. Tough Terror Penalties MOSCOW (AP) -- The State Duma on Friday approved a bill that toughens anti-terrorism legislation, allowing penalties of up to life imprisonment for convicted terrorists. The Duma approved the measure in a 431-0 vote, with three abstentions.

His grandfather has a street named after him in Tbilisi. A monument there recalls that Mamed Abashidze headed the Adzharian nationalist movement and Georgia's first parliament in 1918 -- before being shipped off to exile and death in one of Stalin's prison camps.

A radiant image of the mother of God and her somber-faced child, so enchanting it inspired Ivan the Terrible to build a monastery, has returned to its home in Russia, luring tens of thousands of people to stand in line for hours to see it.

Militants loyal to suspected al-Qaida terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi threatened to behead three Turkish hostages, fanning tensions as U.S. President George W. Bush visited Turkey. The death toll rose to more than 20 in an explosion south of Baghdad.

More than 40,000 demonstrators, some chanting ""USA get out of the Middle East!"" gathered Sunday in a square to protest the visit of U.S. President George W. Bush and an upcoming NATO summit.

Israeli forces on Sunday ended their deadliest raid in the West Bank for months after killing the West Bank commander of a militant group within Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.

A brief look at the stories making headlines in the Russian-language press