MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday ratified treaties with the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia that will allow Moscow to station thousands of troops there.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Syria called on the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to take action to prevent a repeat of a weekend U.S. attack on Syrian territory, and to hold the United States accountable.

DAMASCUS (Reuters) – A Syrian court sentenced 12 dissidents to 2-1/2 years each in prison on Wednesday for political crimes after they had called for democratic reforms.