Eurasia

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Georgian troops have not been defeated and are still fighting in and around the separatist region of South Ossetia to prevent Russian troops from making further advances, a senior Georgian official said on Sunday.

BRESSANONE, Italy (Reuters) – Pope Benedict called on Sunday for an immediate halt to the fighting between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway South Ossetia region and urged world powers to help find a peaceful solution.

ERGNETI, Georgia (Reuters) – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili visited the village of Ergneti on the very border with South Ossetia on Sunday as Tbilisi said it had withdrawn it forces from the breakaway territory.

BEIJING (Reuters) – The Georgian and Russian Olympic teams have decided to stay on at the Beijing Games despite Russian military attacks on Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said.

TEHRAN, (ISNA)-Iran’s president senior adviser Samare Hashemi said the Zionist regime letter of objection to Turkish government over Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visit to Istanbul is “of no value.”

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran on Saturday called for an immediate stop of military conflicts in South Ossetia, and voiced readiness to offer any help to end the crisis in South Ossetia.

GORI, Georgia (Reuters) – Russia said it had driven Georgian forces from the capital of South Ossetia on Saturday as part of an operation to force Georgia to accept peace in its breakaway region.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Georgia’s soldiers in Iraq want to join the fight at home as soon as possible and hope their experience in the U.S.-led force will prove valuable as conflict deepens in their homeland, their commander said on Friday.

GORI, Georgia (Reuters) – A Russian warplane dropped a bomb on an apartment block in the Georgian town of Gori on Saturday, killing at least 5 people, a Reuters reporter said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s military on Saturday said army units had arrived overnight in South Ossetia to bolster troops acting as peacekeepers and announced the imminent arrival of additional reinforcements, Russian news agencies reported.