Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has signed the ceasefire agreement delivered to him in person by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to end the week-long conflict with Russia.

US President George W. Bush has again expressed Washington’s support for Tbilisi. In a statement made from the White House, Bush said: “The people of Georgia have cast their lot with the free world and we will not cast them aside.”

The other half of the diplomatic pincer movement took place in Sochi, as the German Chancellor Angela Merkel used a pre-planned trip there to try to lean on the Russian president to withdraw his troops. The talks were short. Afterwards it appeared there had been no meeting of minds. Russia …

The self-styled president of South Ossetia has said Georgian refugees who fled the enclave will not be allowed to return home. The comments by Eduard Kokoity feature in an interview with the Russian newspaper “Kommersant.”

The Georgian town of Gori has been at the heart of the powerplay between Russia and Georgia. Most of the residents of Gori have fled the shooting, bombing and armoured intimidation.

Russian tanks and troops are still in and around Georgian towns, days after Moscow declared its military operation was over. For the second day running Georgian police have been trying to persuade Russian troops to leave the town of Gori, after rejecting Russian demands yesterday for joint security patrols.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Serbia said on Friday it would seek an opinion from the International Court of Justice on whether Kosovo’s declaration of independence was legal and that Belgrade would abide by whatever the court said.

KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) – A roadside bomb struck a minibus packed with pilgrims bound for Iraq’s holy Shi’ite city of Kerbala on Friday as authorities deployed more than 40,000 police and soldiers to avert new violence in the annual rite.

KABUL (Reuters) – Insurgents killed two soldiers from NATO-led forces in an attack in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

MADRID (Reuters) – Prince Kardam of Bulgaria, the eldest son of the former king of Bulgaria, was seriously injured when his car crashed into a tree on a Madrid highway on Friday, a traffic police spokesman said.