What began as a skirmish has become a tragedy of global importance.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a peace deal with Georgia on Saturday but his troops pushed even deeper toward the capital, Tbilisi.
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Georgia on Friday to show Washington’s support for its embattled ally.
Russia’s President Dmitri Medvedev promises to guarantee any vote by rebel Georgian states to break with Tbilisi.
The fragile truce between Georgia and Russia faced a new test on Thursday as Moscow pledged to begin handing over a key Georgian town.
Georgia accused Russia of breaking a shaky ceasefire in their six-day-old conflict on Wednesday, a charge strongly denied by Moscow.
The Kremlin on Tuesday night dictated humiliating peace terms to Georgia as the price for halting the Russian invasion of the small Black Sea country.
Georgia said on Tuesday that Russian attacks on the country continued as 100 000 people gathered at a rally in central Tbilisi.
The White House said on Tuesday it was looking into Russia’s assertion that it had halted its widely condemned military offensive in Georgia.
International efforts to mediate an end to the conflict between Georgia and Russia were set to intensify on Tuesday.
A Russian envoy called on Nato to hold an extraordinary Russia-Nato council on Tuesday to discuss the dire situation in Georgia.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili accused Moscow of trying to overthrow his government on Monday as troops pushed into two separatist regions.
Crude oil rose topped a barrel on Monday, rebounding from a decline on concern fighting between Russia and Georgia could disrupt exports.
Refugees continued to pour out of South Ossetia on Monday, risking snipers, aerial bombardment and tanks to reach safety across the border.
Russian troops took the capital of the separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia on Sunday after a three-day battle as Georgian forces retreated.
Georgia’s army of less than 25 000 men is confronting a Russian force which can count on more than one million troops.
Two war-torn towns deep in the Caucasus on Saturday presented mirror images of violence and retaliation.
Russia said on Saturday it was sending reinforcements into South Ossetia, a region of Georgia where Russian forces are supporting separatists.
Russia has sent forces into Georgia to repel a Georgian assault on the breakaway South Ossetia region, with reports of ”hundreds of dead civilians”.
Fighting raged in and around the capital of Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia region on Friday as Georgian troops pounded separatist forces.
Georgian troops entered Tskhinvali, the besieged capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, on Friday after battling separatist forces.
Georgia and South Ossetian separatists reported a heavy battle involving artillery on Thursday in the breakaway region.
Russia said on Tuesday it would not be indifferent if violence escalated further in Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia.
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.
It could be the setting for a <i>Jaws</i> movie: six snorkellers cruising just below the surface, until the mysterious whale shark appears.
The United Nations said on Monday that a Russian air force plane shot down an unmanned Georgian spy drone over Abkhazia last month, strengthening Tbilisi’s claims that Moscow is aiding the rebel territory.The UN report was the weightiest independent endorsement to date of Tbilisi’s allegation that a Russian jet downed its spy plane on April 20.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili declared victory on Thursday in a parliamentary election that the opposition said was rigged in his favour and vowed to challenge by calling street protests. Saakashvili said Wednesday’s vote was fair, but the rigging allegations and the threat of protests will test his claim to lead the most democratic state in the region.
Sporting heroes inspire others to become sporting heroes, as new Masters champion Trevor Immelman testified following his two-stroke win over Tiger Woods on Sunday. It was a minor miracle that he was even playing in the Masters, having undergone a major operation just 15 weeks ago.
Trevor Immelman benefitted from a piece of Masters luck on Saturday, but the third-round leader from South Africa knows it’s Sunday that offers a chance to enter Masters lore. Immelman (28) had a stroke of good fortune at the par-five 15th when his ball stuck on the steep bank of the green after his third shot.
Trevor Immelman emerged as the halfway leader at the Masters on Friday as Tiger Woods used an incredible finish to keep alive his bid for a fifth Augusta crown. Immelman, who has had an arduous recovery from surgery, birdied 17 and 18 en route to his second straight 68 and an eight-under total of 136.
Ernie Els is hoping a radical change of coaches can propel him to Masters glory after 14 years of heartbreak. The 37-year-old South African has won two US Opens and one British Open, but has yet to strike gold at Augusta National, despite six top-10 finishes and twice being runner-up.
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/ 13 February 2008
Wealthy Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili, who led and financed a big opposition campaign against President Mikhail Saakashvili, has died in London, one of his aides said on Wednesday. A report on Georgian public television said the businessman had died of a heart attack.