Eurasia

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will robustly defend its interests abroad, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday in a speech that made clear he would not soften the assertive policies that irked the West under his predecessor.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – On wooded hillsides where Georgian and separatist troops eye each other through the sights of their guns, the smallest spark could set off a war. Last week the detention of four Georgian soldiers in the breakaway South Ossetia region quickly escalated into a crisis. Georgia threatened an …

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Unknown gunmen kidnapped two Turkish nationals working on construction project in western Afghanistan on Monday, a senior police official said. Kidnapping has become a lucrative business in Afghanistan, where dozens of locals and foreigners have been abducted by criminals or Taliban-linked militants.

ATHENS (Reuters) – One person was killed in an accident after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck off the island of Rhodes in southeast Greece, officials said on Tuesday, but there were no other reports of casualties or damage.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has approved a plan to hand control of hundreds of state-owned assets to a single Kremlin corporation despite resistance from inside his government.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia made no commitment at last week’s Group of Eight summit to back U.N. sanctions against Zimbabwe so it cannot be accused of a U-turn, a senior Russian diplomat said on Monday.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Eighty-six people were indicted on charges of plotting the violent overthrow of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government, which is accused by militant secularists of Islamist subversion.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday Pakistani agents were behind the Indian embassy bombing in Kabul last week, the first time he has directly accused Pakistan of involvement in the suicide attack that killed 58 people.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will reject a call by the United States for international mediators to take a bigger role in defusing a row with Georgia, Interfax news agency quoted a Russian diplomatic source as saying on Friday.

WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Seven Pakistani soldiers and two civilians have been wounded by firing from inside Afghanistan in the latest incident along the border between the uneasy U.S. allies.