Eurasia

Georgian troops have taken back control of the main road linking the east and west of the country after Russian forces withdrew. But it is a mixed picture elsewhere in the country, and America has strongly criticised the Kremlin for maintaining a Russian presence in Georgia’s heartland.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Georgian Ambassador to Iran Levan Asatiani praised Iran’s position which had called on Georgia and Russia to stop war and settle the conflict over South Ossetia peacefully.

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian official said Teheran has signed contracts to establish six nuclear power plants by 2021.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani Thursday stressed effective implementation of the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between his country and Iran to increase the two-way trade to US$1 billion.

HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba and Russia have stirred memories of their Cold War alliance with recent talk of restoring “traditional” ties in what experts said was a warning to their old adversary, the United States.

SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine (Reuters) – Russian flags hung from balconies, many cheered the army sent to fight Georgian troops and the town planned a hero’s welcome for the ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Russia has announced its promised troop pullout from Georgia is complete. But Moscow’s definition of a withdrawal falls far short of what its critics are demanding. Russia says it will keep a permanent military presence in a large buffer zone bordering Georgia’s breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Tbilisi …

The Georgian government says it is looking for between one and two billion euros to rebuild after its 10-day border war with Russia. It has cost Tbilisi dear. It has seen Gori wrecked, the military port at Poti destroyed, and airbases and railway lines put out of action.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A senior Russian military official confirmed on Friday that Russia’s Defense Ministry had frozen some cooperation with the NATO military alliance and queried the merits of a U.S. Navy operation in the Black Sea.

TBILISI (Reuters) – Russia’s military campaign in Georgia has bolstered Georgians’ determination to join NATO, Eduard Shevardnadze, the man who helped end the Cold War and reconcile Moscow with the West, said on Thursday.