MOSCOW – The near 100 percent support for the Kremlin’s United Russia party in parliamentary elections last year in the North Caucasus were legitimate and vindicated Kremlin policies, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

PRISTINA, Serbia – The last time Kosovo declared independence in 1990 it went unrecognized and ignored. When it splits from Serbia this weekend, it will have the support of the West, which sees no way back.

Serbia’s breakaway Kosovo province is preparing to declare independence this weekend after eight years under United Nations stewardship. Here is a look at the main economic challenges facing the new state.