Free Republic

LONDON - French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) sought to downplay strains in their relationship over the war in Iraq (news - web sites) and pledged Thursday to make every effort to revitalize the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. At a joint news conference after the leaders met in London, Blair and Chirac said their deep differences over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq would not stop them from working closely together on alleviating poverty in Africa, global warming and a host of other issues. Chirac, an arch critic of the war, called it the...

Moscow utility Mosenergo is threatening to cut electricity to a scientific research center that has not paid its bill in more than three years. The problem for Mosenergo, and the research center's trump card, is that it stores strains of the most deadly diseases known to mankind. Located in Obolensk some 90 kilometers to the south of Moscow, the State Center for Applied Microbiology has not paid the utility since October 1998 and now owes 43.5 million rubles ($1.4 million), Mosenergo spokes-woman Yulia Shagelman said Thursday. But the center's head, Nikolai Urakov, said he cannot pay the energy bill because...