The total cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to be $1.6 trillion (£770bn) – double the amount President George Bush says it will cost.

The recognition of Abkhazia by Russia would amount to declaration of war against Georgia and “we will accept this challenge,” an influential lawmaker Givi Targamadze, who chairs the parliament’s defense and security committee, said on November 13.

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he expected a parliamentary election on December 2 to give him a “moral right” to influence Russian politics after he steps down from his Kremlin post next year.