Eurasia

In a move set to further strain tensions with the West, deputies in Russia’s Duma have backed Georgian separatists’ battle for independence.

Russia is continuing to frustrate the West over its pullout from Georgia, and is yet to respond to calls for an urgent summit planned for next week. France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy brokered the deal which ended the fighting, but Moscow’s delays have annoyed many governments. Critics are particularly alarmed by …

TEHRAN (FNA)- The crash of a passenger jet outside Kyrgyzstan’s main airport which killed 66 people is being blamed on technical issues.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Head of Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency Sergei Kiriyenko will visit Iran to finalize the launch date of Bushehr power plant.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s first Russian-built nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr will become operational by the end of 2008, Moscow’s envoy to Tehran said.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Commissioning the third Azerbaijan gas pipeline will prevent the outflow of over $7 billion a year, the Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company (IGEDC) managing director said here on Saturday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has hastened Georgia’s march toward membership in NATO by going to war with it over its breakaway province of South Ossetia, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Saturday.

So have the Russians left Georgia, or not? People who normally live in the buffer zone Russia has unilaterally set up are dismayed to see armour digging in instead of heading off back into south Osettia.

Life in Georgia is slowly returning as refugees from the Russian military occupation return and re-populate towns and villages that have been deserted for 10 days. They find much of Gori ruined, especially any official or military location.

(Pakistan) – Many bodies are still trapped under the rubble of the police station in Mingora in Pakistan’s Swat valley.Eight have been recovered, but there are fears of more after the Taliban warned of a bombing counter-offensive if the government does not stop military operations in the area, once a …