ISLAMABAD – A group of retired senior military officers said on Thursday President Pervez Musharraf should hand over power to the judge he sacked three months ago to ensure national elections are fair.

ISTANBUL – At least 20 people were killed and 117 were injured on Thursday when an explosion ripped through an Istanbul building that housed an illegal fireworks factory, the city governor’s office said.

BELGRADE – Pro-Western Serbian President Boris Tadic faces nationalist challenger Tomislav Nikolic on Sunday in an election that will decide Serbia’s attitude to the West after the imminent loss of breakaway Kosovo province.