War crimes court upholds conviction of ex-Kosovo Liberation Army commander

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Appeals judges at a special Kosovo court upheld Thursday the convictions of a former commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army for arbitrarily detaining and torturing prisoners and murdering one of them during Kosovo's war for independence, but reduced his sentence by four years.

The commander, Salih Mustafa, was convicted a year ago and sentenced to 26 years' imprisonment for the crimes committed at a KLA compound in

Finland to again close entire border with Russia until Jan. 14

HELSINKI – Finland's government has decided to seal again, effective Friday, the Nordic country's entire eastern frontier due to a continuing influx of migrants at the two crossing points on the border with Russia that were reopened on a temporary basis early Thursday.

Interior Minister Mari Rantanen told reporters that a decision by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's Cabinet earlier this week to temporarily reopen the southeastern Vaalimaa and Niirala crossing points today was meant as a trial to see whether the migrant “phenomenon” still exists at the border.

The Finnish Border Guard reported that dozens of migrants without proper documentation or visas had arrived at the two checkpoints by late Thursday. The number of migrants was predicted to increase rapidly at Vaalimaa and Niirala checkpoints, prompting the Finnish government's to react quickly and close them as of 8 p.m. Friday until Jan. 14, Rantanen said.

There are eight crossing points for passenger and vehicle traffic on the Finland-Russia land border, and one rail checkpoint for cargo trains. As of Friday evening, only the rail checkpoint will remain open between the two countries.