* Syrian troops gather on Lebanese border A few tents and trucks dotting a green hill across the river are about all that is visible of a Syrian troop deployment on Lebanon’s northern border.

* Police brace ahead of Yom Kippur Security forces have been placed on high alert ahead of Yom Kippur.

* Russians ‘leave Georgian areas’ Georgia says Russian troops have left “buffer zones” inside its territory adjacent to its breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

* Israel, Russia to upgrade strategic ties Israel and Russia will upgrade their strategic dialogue and use that forum to share intelligence assessments.

* Central banks cut interest rates Six central banks, including the Bank of England, have cut interest rates by half a percentage point in an effort to steady the faltering global economy.

* Rabbi at Temple Institute Receives Award Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, director of Jerusalem’s Temple Institute, has been named winner of the Yaakov Egerst Memorial Award for Jewish Culture by the Ministry of Education.

* Hijacked tanks ‘for South Sudan’ The BBC has seen evidence suggesting that the Ukrainian ship being held by pirates off Somalia is carrying weapons and tanks destined for South Sudan.

* Turkey PM considering Iraq incursion Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he is considering launching a ground incursion into northern Iraq to target Kurdish separatists.

* N Korea ‘building atomic warhead’ North Korea is trying to develop a nuclear warhead that would fit on to a missile.

* EU states set common rules to face bank crisis EU finance ministers have decided to raise minimum bank deposit guarantees across all 27-strong bloc.