KABUL (Reuters) – The Taliban were very clear about their strategy this year, declaring it for all to see on their Web site in March; more suicide bombs, isolating Kabul and hitting troop supply lines. So far they have not disappointed.

MOSABRUNI, Georgia (Reuters) – Russian forces pushed Georgian police out of a disputed village on the de facto South Ossetian border on Tuesday after a tense stand-off that underlined the fragility of their peace.

Russia has defied pressure from America and the West, and has recognised the independence of Georgia’s two breakaway regions. President Dimitry Medvedev said he had signed decrees accepting Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, and urged all other nations to do the same.