World

Russia will fail to attain its strategic goal of ousting the government of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice said Thursday.

Iran has completed a three-day series of Air Force and missile defense exercises throughout the country, the Air Force commander said Thursday.

Western partners’ non-recognition of South Ossetia’s independence cannot create an obstacle for Tskhinval’s officials to be invited to different OSCE discussions concerning their country, Russian permanent envoy to OSCE Anvar Azimov told Itar-Tass on Thursday.

The NATO-led force said it would investigate with Afghan authorities claims that its soldiers may have killed three Afghans, including a district chief, after mistaking them for Taliban.

Russia is negotiating the delivery of more air defense systems to Iran despite Western demands for a halt in sales to Tehran over its refusal to stop uranium enrichment, the head of Russia's arms exporter said Thursday.

The Iranian foreign minister, currently visiting Georgia, said Wednesday that his country is closely following events in the Caucasus and wants Russia and Georgia to consider all possibilities to resolve their standoff.

Georgia would be an ideal bridgehead for a U.S. invasion of Iran, Russia's NATO envoy said Wednesday.

A shortage of international troops in Afghanistan reflects insufficient defense spending across most of Europe, French Defense Minister Herve Morin said Wednesday during a visit to Australia.

NATO's chief declared Tuesday that Russian tanks and troops cannot block Georgia from joining NATO, but he acknowledged internal disagreement over how long the pro-Western nation must wait for membership in the alliance.

Capping an extraordinary day in financial markets, U.S. authorities pieced together an emergency $85 billion rescue of insurance company American International Group Inc (AIG.N) to stave off a bankruptcy that could have thrown world markets into deeper turmoil.