• A court in Belarushanded down a four-and-a-half year prison sentence to prominent human rights activist Ales Byalyatiski for tax evasion on Thursday in a move that was seen as politically motivated. The UN human rights panel criticized the country on Friday for what it called “numerous and consistent allegations of widespread torture and ill-treatment of detainees”, also expressing concern over reports that the government only informs families of persons sentenced to death weeks after the punishment has been carried out. On Monday, another opposition activist was charged with insulting police in a dispute about his parole restrictions for “the illegal display of the banned Belarusian national flag” in a public place.
• Some 21 KFOR solders were injured in a clash with protesters in northern Kosovo on Wednesday-Thursday, as they attempted to dismantle a roadblock put up by local Serbs to prevent ethnic Albanian authorities from establishing control in the north. On Monday, two more soldiers were wounded by gunfire in clashes with the Serb demonstrators. On Friday, Serbia and Kosovo struck a deal on border management after three days of negotiations in Brussels.
• Authorities in Franceordered a train carrying reprocessed nuclear waste to Germany to stop near the border for 24 hours on Thursday to avoid more mass protests, after riot police clashed with anti-nuclear protesters on Wednesday. On Saturday, German police reported that 20 policemen were injured in clashes with protesters after some 300 protesters allegedly threw stones and fireworks. German police reportedly detained some 1,300 people during an eviction from the rail lines.
• President Medvedev of Russia warned on Wednesday that it will deploy its own missiles and possibly withdraw from the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty if the US moves forward with its plans for a missile-defence system in Europe. The missile-defence system, with current agreements to place 24 interceptor missiles in Romania and a sophisticated radar system in Turkey, is being developed to defend against a potential missile attack by Iran. On Wednesday, PM Putin said that Russia could not afford to let political opposition or disagreement jeopardize stability during the upcoming parliamentary elections set for December 4^th and insisted that in the face of opposition the governing party would tighten its grip.  On Sunday, PM Putin accepted the nomination for the United Russia Party as a candidate for the Presidency in the March 2012 elections. On Monday, the Kremlin launched a campaign to crack down on Russians’ access to western media that is critical of the PM and his United Russia party ahead of the March 4 elections. On Tuesday, Russia turned on a new incoming missile early warning system in its westernmost region in response to the US plans for a European missile shield. On Friday, the country’s only independent election monitoring group was found guilty of breaking Russian electoral law, under the claim they are part of a US-funded plot to disrupt Sunday’s vote. The group claims they have been harassed and intimidated by state security officials in the runup to the parliamentary elections after they recorded more than 4,700 complaints, most involving the ruling United Russia party. On Saturday, the head of Golos, the election monitoring group was held for several hours by customs officials and her laptop taken on the pretext that it had illegal software, while parliamentary voting began in the Far East regions.
• Election officials in South Ossetia declared the second round of the Presidential election valid after more than the required 30% of eligible voters cast ballots. Former Education Minister Alla Dzhioyeva appeared to be leading the runoff, amid allegations of bribing and

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