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Brussels - NATO on Wednesday reassured Ukraine about its prospects of joining the transatlantic alliance, with both sides condemning Russia’s decision to recognize Georgia’s breakaway regions.

New York - The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday extended the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon by one year.

Alpbach, Austria - Wiener Boerse AG, Vienna’s stock exchange, expressed interest Wednesday in buying a majority stake of the Prague Stock Exchange, Austrian news agency APA reported.

Moscow - Russian newspapers on Wednesday supported President Dmitry Medvedev’s decision to recognize the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but expressed fears the move could harm Moscow’s relations with the West.

Warsaw - Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski has said he’d prefer Russia to work with the West, but Russia would lose again if it came to confrontation.

Prague - Czech real wages rose the least in 10 years during the second quarter, the government said on Wednesday, spurring speculation that the country’s central bank will further cut interest rates.

Paris - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner voiced fears Wednesday that Russia may destabilise other countries following its recognition of two Georgian breakaway regions.

Oslo - A Norwegian of Bosnian descent went on trial in Oslo Wednesday, accused of torture and other crimes against Serbian civilians during the Balkans war.

Novavax Inc. said a new type of bird flu vaccine using a mock version of the virus is safe for testing. The results of the human safety trials conducted by the Rockville, Maryland-based biotech company appeared to be promising against the H5N1 A/Indonesia/05/2005 avian influenza strain.

A research paper presented at the conference for the International Association for the Study of Pain claimed that women experience recurrent pain, which is more severe and long lasting than pain experienced by men. Moreover recurrent pain in women has different symptoms as compared to the pain in their male counterparts.