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TBILISI, Georgia - Georgian troops launched a major military offensive Friday to regain control over the breakaway province of South Ossetia and the president accused Russia, which has close ties to the separatists, of bombing Georgian territory. A Russian official denied the bombing. But Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the Georgian attack will draw retaliation and the Defense Ministry pledged to protect South Ossetians, most of whom have Russian citizenship. An Associated Press reporter saw tanks and other heavy weapons concentrating on the Russian side of the border with South Ossetia and villagers were fleeing into Russia. "I saw...

"The Pentagon has barred French, German and Russian companies from competing for $18.6 billion in contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq, saying it was acting to protect "the essential security interests of the United States."– The Dallas Morning News, Dec. 10 Once upon a time, four friends shared the forest. When an evil dictator threatened the peace and security of them all, one of the friends concluded that the bad man had to be driven out of the forest. "Who will help me disarm and depose this dictator?" asked the American Eagle. "Not I!" said the French Cock. "Not I!"...

(Filed: 27/12/2002) Drastic steps are being taken to halt the falling birth rate in Russia. Julius Strauss reports from Zolotukha The deal Natasha was offered was simple: prove she was fertile, that her husband was not an alcoholic and agree to having three children in five years. In exchange the local council would buy her a house of her own. Providing she fulfilled her child-bearing obligations there would be no repayments to make, and, after five years, nothing owing. The babies-for-houses scheme was introduced this year in Ahtubinsk, a poverty-stricken region of southern Russia. It is a desperate attempt to...