Eurasia

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy that Georgian troops must return to their barracks in line with a French-brokered ceasefire, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

TBILISI (Reuters) – Despite leading Georgia into a disastrous war with Russia and losing two of the country’s provinces, President Mikheil Saakashvili looks politically secure for now as Georgians unite in adversity.

Russia has received limited backing from the East over its role in Georgia. At an Asian regional security summit, Russia’s fellow members of the Shanghai Cooperation Council – China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan – expressed support for what they called Moscow’s efforts to restore stability in the Caucasus.

Russia has sent a missile cruiser and two other ships to Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia, after a US military ship docked at a southern port in Georgia.The show of force coincides with the escalating standoff between the West and Moscow, over its conflict with Tbilisi. There was an effusive …

Another prisoner exchange has taken place between Georgia and South Ossetia, after the short war earlier this month.A total of 85 Georgians who had been held in Tshkinvali have been transported across the border. They are said to be the last of a group of civilians who were captured during …

French president Nicolas Sarkozy put together the six-point plan to end the war between Georgia and Russia. So he is one of the most vexed at what has happened since.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Turkish National Education Minister Huseyin Celik arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to discuss bolstering of educational and cultural relations between the two countries.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani rivals stepped up their campaign for next week’s presidential election on Wednesday as political uncertainty deepened by a split in the ruling coalition drove stocks lower.

KARACHI (Reuters) – Pakistani stocks fell over 4 percent in early trade on Wednesday to their lowest level in more than two years as investors sold blue chips such as OGDC amid persistent political uncertainty in the country.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A strong earthquake hit the Lake Baikal area of eastern Siberia on Wednesday, triggering panic, but there were no immediate signs of casualties or major damage, officials said.