GEORGIA: Russian officials say their troops may be preparing to pull out of
Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, but reports conflict on
how much progress has been made.
Some media reports quote a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman as saying
Russia is only considering or preparing for a pullout, which would meet
the terms of a French-brokered cease-fire agreement. But other reports
quote a Russian commander (General Vyachislav Borisov) as saying troop movement has already begun.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner cautioned in an interview published today (Sunday) that
the cease-fire is still fragile. He said "the main thing" is for Russia
to begin withdrawing its forces and he said that has not yet happened.
AFGHANISTAN: An Afghan official said today (Sunday) a roadside explosion killed 10 police overnight in southern Afghanistan.
Kandahar province police chief Mutillah Khan says a bomb hit a police
vehicle in the Shah Wali Kot district. He blames the deadly bombing on
Taliban militants.
On Saturday, U.S. military officials said coalition and Afghan forces
killed dozens of militants in recent clashes in southern and eastern
Afghanistan.
The U.S.-led coalition said more than 30 militants were killed in three
days of fighting in Zamto Valley, in southern Kandahar province.
TURKEY-KURDS: The Turkish army says it has bombed a Kurdish rebel target in northern Iraq.
The military said on its Web site today (Sunday) that
Turkish warplanes attacked a rebel hideout in the Avasin-Basyan region.
It said the attack was "successful," but did not provide any data on
casualties.
Turkey has stepped up military operations against PKK rebels this year
both in Turkey and across the border northern Iraq, where thousands of
rebels are based.
The PKK has been fighting for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey
since 1984. The violence has killed more than 30-thousand people.
OLYMPICS WRAP: American swimmer Michael Phelps has made history by winning his eighth
gold medal at the Beijing Games, something no other athlete has ever
achieved in the modern Olympics.
Phelps and his teammates won the men's four-by-100-meters medley relay
in a world record time of three minutes, 29-point-three-four seconds.
Since the modern Olympics started in 1896, no athlete had ever won
eight gold medals at a single Games. American Mark Spitz won seven
medals in Munich in 1972.
In other swimming events, Australia's women's team set a world record on its way to winning the four-by-100 meter medley relay (in three minutes, 52-point-69 seconds).
Germany's Britta Steffen edged 41-year-old American Dara Torres by one
100th of a second to win the women's 50-meter freestyle event. In the
men's 15-hundred meters freestyle race, Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia won
the gold medal.
Audio in Lao.
