Eurasia

TBILISI (Reuters) – Moscow-backed separatists in Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia region detained four Georgian soldiers on Monday, raising tension a day before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Tbilisi. South Ossetia, and Georgia’s second breakaway region of Abkhazia, are a regular source of friction between the pro-Western government in …

PRAGUE (Reuters) – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Tuesday Russian behavior towards Georgia and its breakaway region of Abkhazia had exacerbated tensions and she urged both sides to avoid provocative actions. “Frankly, some of the things that Russia did over the last couple of months added to tensions …

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Pakistan is not behind the suicide car-bombing that ripped through the Indian embassy in Kabul, killing 41 people and wounding 139, the country’s prime minister said on Tuesday. Afghan authorities had suggested that Monday’s attack was coordinated with foreign agents in the region, a likely reference …

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A “new war” could break out in Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia if Tbilisi uses military force to resolve the conflict, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

ASTANA (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Saturday to refrain from “stoking tensions” in Georgia’s breakaway regions.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Taliban militants released two Pakistani journalists on Saturday more than 36-hours after they were abducted in a tribal region near the Afghan border. “When it was proven that they’re journalists and not spies, we freed them,” Taliban spokesman Asad said.

SKOPJE (Reuters) – Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has agreed with the main ethnic Albanian party to form a coalition government to aim at getting its NATO and European Union bids back on track, his party said on Saturday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia said on Saturday Tbilisi had planned to take the area over by military force earlier this year but failed in its mission, Russian agencies reported.

KARACHI (Reuters) – Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf hit back at calls for his resignation on Friday, saying he was needed to help political parties avoid an economic meltdown and tackle a militant threat gripping the country. “We cannot address the problems of terrorism and extremism and the economic crisis if …

YEREVAN (Reuters) – Thousands of opposition supporters marched through the Armenian capital on Friday and vowed to hold a month-long series of protests to demand the resignation of President Serzh Sarksyan and new elections. The opposition accuses the authorities of ballot-stuffing and intimidation in the February 19 election which official …