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Russia takes its time in pursuing its pullout goal
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Published: August 22, 2008
GORI, Georgia -- Russian forces lingered deep in Georgia yesterday, digging trenches and setting up mortars a day before Kremlin officials promised to complete a troop withdrawal from this former Soviet republic.
But a top Russian general said that it could be 10 days before the bulk of the troops left, and the mixed signals from Moscow left Georgians guessing about its intentions nearly a week after a cease-fire deal.
Strains in relations between Russia and the West showed no improvement. NATO, Moscow's Cold War foe, said that Russia had stopped military cooperation with the alliance, underscoring the growing division in a Europe that had seemed destined for unity after the Soviet Union collapsed.
Iraq, U.S. near deal to get forces out by December 2011
BAGHDAD -- Iraq and the U.S. pushed close to a deal yesterday setting a course for American combat troops to pull out of Iraqi cities by next June on the way to broader withdrawal from the long and costly war by 2011.
Subject to final approval by the top Iraqi leadership, the exit date for U.S. troops would be December 2011, although the Americans insist on linking that target to additional security and political progress.
The administration has inched toward the Iraqi view that setting at least a target date for withdrawal would make it politically palatable for Iraq's government to accept a substantial U.S. troop presence beyond this year.
British contractor loses list of data on prison inmates
LONDON -- In another embarrassing stumble with computerized data, Britain's government confirmed yesterday that a contractor lost a memory device containing information on every prison inmate in England and Wales.
British officials have been humiliated by a series of such blunders that has raised questions about its ability to safeguard personal information of citizens even as it works on final details for an ambitious national identification program and an expanded DNA database.
Millions of names and personal details from across the country have been reported lost because computers or memory devices went missing over the past year. The latest comes after the government published a report in June on how it hoped to improve data-handling practices.
Time running out for a deal on nuclear fuel with India
VIENNA, Austria -- The United States appeared optimistic and reaffirmed its commitment to a landmark U.S.-India nuclear cooperation deal yesterday at the end of a first day of discussions by a consortium crucial to its fate.
But other participants in a meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group suggested it was unlikely that a final decision on whether to give India access to legal imports of nuclear fuel and technology would be made by the time the meeting wraps up today.
Chances of an unconditional exemption for India -- wanted by Washington and New Delhi -- also appeared to be dwindling.
3 ships hijacked in one day off Somalia; ‘unheard of'
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Armed pirates hijacked three ships off the coast of Somalia in a series of attacks yesterday, an international maritime body said, as it urged the United Nations to restore law and order to the notorious African waters.
Three hijackings in a day "is unheard of," said Noel Choong, the head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy center, based here in of the Kuala Lumpur.
The attacks came two days after the seizure of a Malaysian palm-oil tanker with 39 crew in the same area and raised to seven the number of ships hijacked in the Gulf of Aden since July 20.
Orphaned baby whale Colin is euthanized in Australia
SYDNEY, Australia -- An injured and abandoned baby humpback whale was euthanized by wildlife officials today after veterinarians determined it was too weak to survive on its own.
The plight of the whale calf, which Australians have nicknamed "Colin," has dominated news coverage here since it was first sighted Sunday and began trying to suckle from boats it apparently mistook for its mother.
This morning, the 14-foot-long animal was guided close to the shore and could be seen thrashing about. Officials reached out to stroke the calf before others hoisted it onto a tarp. The whale was then pulled into a tent on the beach and gray tarps were hung to obscure the operation.
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