Eurasia

TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgia said on Thursday that Russia had deployed 2,000 extra troops in South Ossetia in the past week and was preparing to stir up more trouble in the breakaway territory.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan has not formally asked for a facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the prime minister’s top adviser on economic affairs said on Thursday, contrary to comments by the head of the multilateral agency.

KARACHI (Reuters) – Pakistan needs funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to get its economy back on track after problems were ignored during a transition to civilian rule this year, a former central bank governor said.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian warplanes forced a Belarusian fighter jet to land for interrogations after the plane violated the country’s airspace.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia test-fired an intercontinental Stilet missile on Wednesday as part of the checks needed to extend the service of the weapon until 2010, the strategic missile forces said. The missile, which belongs to a type commissioned in 1979 and known in the West as SS-19, was fired …

As German troops paid a ceremonial tribute to two comrades killed in a suicide attack on Monday, allies in the Afghan army have become the latest victims.

Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak has been released from jail in Moscow pending his trial on charges of embezzlement and fraud, which he has always denied.

Hoping to get Georgia back on its feet after this summer’s armed conflict, international donors have gathered for a major fund-raising conference.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and the Mostazafan Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tetneft of Tatarestan, an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Turkish National Security Council on Tuesday decided to form a new structure in order to strengthen the coordination in the fight against terrorism.