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Russia says it will keep 7,600 troops in Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia after withdrawing from the rest of the country.



On Monday, Russia agreed to withdraw its troops from positions within Georgia, taken up during the recent conflict, by mid-October.

The first troops were seen abandoning a checkpoint near Abkhazia, at the Black Sea town of Ganmukhuri, witnesses said.

But Russia says it will set up military bases in both disputed regions.

It also says it has established formal diplomatic ties with their administrations.

The move followed a decision - condemned by the US and EU but defined as "irrevocable" by Moscow - to recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said troops were expected to remain in the two regions "for the foreseeable future".

"Russian troops will remain on the territory of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on request of their leaders in parliament," Mr Lavrov said from Moscow.

"They will be there a long time. This is absolutely necessary, so as not to allow a repeat of armed actions," he added.

Mr Lavrov said that both regions should also be able to participate in talks on Georgia scheduled for next month in Geneva with "fully fledged" places.

Russia is expected to sign formal agreements on troop deployment in South Ossetia and Abkhazia over the coming days.

International observers

Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that some 3,800 men would be positioned in each breakaway region.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had already indicated that Moscow intended to maintain a military presence in the regions, but Mr Serdyukov's statement provides the first specific breakdown of troop numbers.

On Monday, Mr Medvedev pledged to withdraw troops from the rest of Georgia on condition that the EU would deploy at least 200 observers, along with 220 other international monitors to ensure the security of the two breakaway regions.

Under the deal, Russia will pull out within 10 days of the deployment of EU monitors.

Already on Tuesday, Russian troops and military vehicles rolled away from their positions at Ganmukhuri, a Black Sea town near the border with Abkhazia.

"It is the first sign of the Russian pull-out from the so-called buffer zones as a result of the 8 September agreement," a Georgian interior ministry spokesman said.

A defence ministry official in Moscow confirmed the move.

"In accordance with the agreements... the defence ministry has begun the dismantling of checkpoints in zones in South Ossetia and Abkhazia," he said, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

Russian troops are present in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as in so-called buffer zones around these regions and near the strategic port city of Poti.

Fighting between Russia and Georgia began on 7 August after the Georgian military tried to retake the breakaway region of South Ossetia by force.

Russian forces launched a counter-attack and the conflict ended with the ejection of Georgian troops from both South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Also on Tuesday, South Ossetia's Prosecutor General Taimuraz Khugayev said that investigations had confirmed that more than 500 people had been killed during Georgia's attack last month, according to Russian news agency, Interfax.

Russia initially suggested more than 1,500 people had died in the conflict. Independent observers say they have been unable to confirm such high figures.

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Thankyou for the news.

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The US has imposed sanctions on an Iranian shipping company and 18 of its affiliates over its alleged support for Tehran's nuclear programme.



The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) had provided logistical support for the Iranian defence ministry, the US treasury said.

IRISL's US-based assets would be frozen and its transactions banned, it said.

The US has already imposed a number of sanctions on Iran linked to its controversial nuclear programme.

Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapon. But Tehran says its nuclear activities are aimed solely at peaceful energy development.

'Deceptive schemes'

The US treasury accused IRISL, a global operator, of shipping "military-related cargo" and lying about its activities.

"Not only does IRISL facilitate the transport of cargo for UN-designated proliferators, it also falsifies documents and uses deceptive schemes to shroud its involvement in illicit commerce," Stuart Levey, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement.

"IRISL's actions are part of a broader pattern of deception and fabrication that Iran uses to advance its nuclear and missile programs," he said.

The move means that US citizens and companies will not be allowed to do business with IRISL and its affiliates. The companies' bank accounts will be frozen.

The UN has passed three rounds of sanctions against Iran aimed at curtailing its nuclear programme.

Last month, the European Union approved new measures against Tehran after it missed a deadline to respond to a proposal from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany to suspend uranium enrichment.

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The US Democratic presidential candidate has denied claims of sexism after likening his rival's promise of change to putting "lipstick on a pig".

Barack Obama said Republican John McCain's outrage was "phoney", a diversion from debating real issues.

The controversy began on Tuesday after Mr Obama said his rival was advocating change while pursuing the politics of the current Bush administration.

Mr McCain's campaign accused him of smearing running mate Sarah Palin.

Mrs Palin joked last week that lipstick was all that separated a "hockey mom" and a pitbull.

'Made-up' controversy

Mr Obama made the remark during a rally in Virginia where he accused the McCain campaign of trying suddenly to adopt the promise of change - a platform he himself has been running on for months.

Drawing a link between the Republican senator for Arizona and President George W Bush, he suggested change would be impossible for Mr McCain to achieve.

"You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. You can wrap up an old fish in a piece of paper and call it change. It's still going to stink after eight years. We've had enough."

Mrs Palin, a self-described "hockey mom", made her joke about lipstick during a speech at the Republican National Convention last Wednesday.

Soon after Mr Obama's comments, McCain aides produced an election campaign ad referring to "sexism in American life", and accusing the Illinois senator of "smearing" Mrs Palin, governor of Alaska.

And there was speculation that Mr Obama might apologise, but he took a more aggressive line, says the BBC's Kevin Connolly in Washington.

He dismissed the "made-up controversy" on Wednesday - defending his remark as an "innocent expression".

Mr Obama said his comments had been taken out of context.

"The McCain campaign would much rather have the story about phoney and foolish diversions than about the future," the Illinois senator said.

Republicans may well try to keep the controversy going, although one difficulty for them is that John McCain has himself used the offending phrase, our Washington correspondent says.

Mr McCain had used the same analogy to criticise a health care plan presented by former Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton last year.

The row erupted as a new poll by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News suggested that Mr Obama and Mr McCain were in a statistical dead heat. Mr Obama held a lead of several points earlier this summer.

Another poll by CNN and the Opinion Research Foundation also put the rival candidates in a statistical tie, with Mr Obama polling 49% to Mr McCain's 48%.

The latest Gallup daily tracking poll of registered voters gave Mr McCain a lead of 49% to Mr Obama's 44%.

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An association in China says that suicide is the leading cause of death among young people.



The Chinese Association for Mental Health says young people aged between 15 and 34 are more likely to die at their own hand than by any other means.

The suicide rate is reported to be higher in the countryside than cities, with more women taking their own lives.

The report was published in advance of World Suicide Prevention Day, taking place on Wednesday.

In some countries the leading cause of death among young people is road accidents. In China, it is suicide.

Studies come up with a number of reasons for the higher rates of female suicide in rural areas.

In particular, doctors say that arguments about marriage cause rural women to commit suicide.

Books withdrawn

But the problem is not just in the countryside.

In the city of Shanghai, three students have tried to kill themselves since the school year began at the start of September.

Another student, a 12-year-old boy, died when he jumped from a sixth floor window.

So the authorities in Shanghai have told schools to send out mental health questionnaires to several thousand pupils to try to prevent anyone else from killing themselves.

In addition, local bookshops have taken a number of books with suicide-related themes off their shelves.

They include a popular comic book called "The Rabbit Which Wanted To Kill Itself".

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Prosecutors are to seek a retrial of seven British men who were accused of a plot to blow up planes flying from the UK to North America with liquid bombs.

Three men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder but the jury was unable to decide whether they and four other men had planned to target planes.

The men had denied plotting to bring down planes from Heathrow with home-made bombs disguised as soft drinks.

The Crown Prosecution Service will put a retrial application before a court.

The CPS said the seven men should face a retrial on every count the jury, which was discharged on Monday, had failed to agree on.

Director of public prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald QC said: "This will include a count that each defendant conspired to detonate improvised explosive devices on transatlantic passenger aircraft.

"We shall be returning to court to make this application in due course."

He added he had reached the decision after "careful consideration" with the head of his counter-terrorism division and counsel.

Making videos

The seven men are Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 27, Assad Sarwar, 28, Tanvir Hussain, 27, Ibrahim Savant, 27, Arafat Waheed Khan, 27, Waheed Zaman, 24, and Umar Islam, 30.

On Monday, after a five-month trial at London's Woolwich Crown Court, Ali, of Walthamstow, east London, Sarwar, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and Hussain, of Leyton, east London, were found guilty of conspiracy to murder. They have yet to be sentenced.

The jury was unable to reach a verdict on whether they and London residents Mr Savant, of Stoke Newington, Mr Islam, of Plaistow, and Mr Zaman and Mr Khan, both of Walthamstow, had conspired to detonate explosives on aircraft.

The jurors also failed to decide whether or not Mr Savant, Mr Islam, Mr Zaman and Mr Khan were guilty of conspiracy to murder, and those four men also face a possible retrial on that count.

All seven had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit public nuisance by making videos threatening bombings, but none of the men has yet been sentenced for that offence.

Political protest

Ali, Sarwar and Hussain told the jury they had wanted to create a political spectacle in protest at British foreign policy.

It would have included fake suicide videos and devices that would frighten, rather than kill, the public.

Prosecutors alleged the men had been planning to carry liquid explosives on to planes at Heathrow, knowing the devices would evade airport security checks.

However the court heard the explosives had never been fully constructed and tickets had neither been bought nor plans to travel made.

Sweeping airport restrictions on liquids in hand luggage were brought in following the men's arrests in August 2006.

An eighth defendant in the Woolwich Crown Court trial - Mohammad Gulzar, 27, of Barking, east London - was cleared of all charges.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is believed to be recovering from a recent stroke, officials in South Korea say.



Speaking after a late-night briefing, a South Korean spokesman said that the 66-year-old leader was not thought to be in a serious condition.

Speculation over Mr Kim's health mounted after he failed to appear at an important military parade on Tuesday.

A North Korean diplomat, however, has dismissed the reports of Mr Kim's ill health as "worthless".

Kim Jong-il has ruled the communist nation since his father, Kim Il-sung, died in 1994. He has not yet named a successor.

'No vacuum'

On Tuesday, Mr Kim missed a parade in Pyongyang to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the North Korea's foundation.

Late on Wednesday, intelligence officials told South Korean President Lee Myung-bak that Mr Kim was believed to be recuperating from an apparent stroke.

"At the meeting, Lee was given a report that the North Korean leader has passed a critical moment after suffering a stroke," Yonhap news agency quoted presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan as saying.

South Korean lawmakers earlier received a similar briefing at a closed session of parliament.

"Kim suffered either a stroke or a cerebral haemorrhage, but is recovering, the intelligence agency said," opposition lawmaker Won Hye-young told journalists. "Pyongyang is not in a state of administrative vacuum."

"Although Kim is not fit enough for outside activity, he is conscious and able to control affairs," Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying.

Lee Myung-bak has nonetheless told his Cabinet to be prepared for an abrupt change in North Korea's political situation, the agency said.

Mr Kim has not been seen in public since early last month. He has been known to disappear from public view for extended periods before, only to reappear later.

This time, however, the reports of ill health have been given added impetus by news that a team of Chinese doctors was recently summoned to examine him.

North Korea has rejected reports that Kim Jong-il is unwell. The North Korean diplomat in charge of relations with Japan, Song Il-ho, dismissed the claims as a "conspiracy plot".

The communist state's deputy leader, Kim Yong-nam, was later quoted, again by Kyodo, as saying there was "no problem".

Nuclear fears

Concerns about Mr Kim's health come amid an impasse in international efforts to urge North Korea to abandon its nuclear programme.

North Korea agreed in February 2007 to give up its nuclear ambitions in return for aid and diplomatic concessions, but the progress of the deal has been far from smooth.

After a long delay, Pyongyang handed over details of its nuclear facilities in June 2008. In return, it expected the US to remove it from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

But the two sides cannot agree on a process to verify the information that North Korea handed over and Pyongyang now appears to be starting to reassemble its main nuclear plant.

Meanwhile the World Food Programme estimates that North Korea is suffering from a serious food shortage.

The North has relied on foreign assistance to help feed its 23 million people since its state-controlled economy collapsed in the mid-1990s.

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Shares in troubled US bank Lehman Brothers have plunged again on concerns over the future of the bank.



Lehman announced the biggest loss in its history on Wednesday and investors remain unconvinced by the bank's plans to strengthen its finances.

One analyst said the firm was "limping along" and "may or may not make it".

Lehman's shares fell 40% to $4.30 and have lost 76% since Monday. The value of other financial firms has also been affected by the nervousness.

Shares in mortgage lender Washington Mutual, for example, fell more than 20%.

"We thought that getting news out of Lehman was going to clear the dark cloud but it really doesn't," said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jeffries.

"It just leaves us with a company that's limping along, that may or may not make it," he added.

The company's shares are down more than 94% from their 52-week high of $67.73 in November 2007.

"As much as they try to... calm investors down, investors don't have yet the answers they need," said Rose Grant, managing director of Eastern Investment Advisors.

"There's a complete lack of faith, lack of confidence and lack of trust."

Lehman has lost billions of dollars through its badly judged bets on the growth of US sub-prime mortgages - a market that began to crumble last year.

The Wall Street bank said on Wednesday it made a loss of $3.9bn (£2.2bn) between June and August, taking its losses this year to $6.6bn.

To shore up its weak financial position, it has slashed its dividend and will sell a stake in its lucrative fund management arm.

It will also reduce its exposure to residential mortgages and spin off its commercial real estate business as part of the shake-up.

But investors were not convinced that Lehman would be able to pull off the deals and raise the money it needs to plug its losses.

"Finance is a confidence game," said Andrew Busch, analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

"Once it's gone, the critical function of being able to trade with other financial entities becomes difficult and expensive," he added.

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President George W Bush has authorised US military raids against militants inside Pakistan without prior approval from Islamabad, the BBC has learned.



An unnamed senior Pentagon official told the BBC the classified order had been made within the past two months.

On Wednesday, the US's top military commander said the US was shifting its strategy in Afghanistan to include raids across the border into Pakistan.

Pakistan has said it will not allow foreign forces onto its territory.

Meanwhile, security officials in Pakistan say they have killed up to 100 militants on the Afghan border. There is no confirmation.

The US say that Pakistan's north-west tribal areas are being used as "safe havens" by militants preparing attacks on Afghanistan.

But Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said there was "no question of any agreement or understanding with the coalition forces whereby they are allowed to conduct operations on our side of the border".

'Common insurgency'

A senior Pentagon official told the BBC that Mr Bush gave his approval this summer for cross-border raids into Pakistan.

The order includes the use of conventional ground troops crossing the border into Pakistan to pursue militants there.

The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Washington says it is a sign of growing US frustration with Islamabad's lack of assertive action against the militants.

There is also an increasing concern about the threat such militants pose to Nato troops in neighbouring Afghanistan, and potentially to the US, says our correspondent.

The US has officially stressed the need for co-operation, and on Thursday, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen told Congress that the US must continue to work closely with Pakistan.

"In my view, these two nations are inextricably linked in a common insurgency that crosses the border between them," he said.

"We can hunt down and kill extremists as they cross over the border from Pakistan... but until we work more closely with the Pakistani government to eliminate the safe havens from which they operate, the enemy will only keep coming."

But, our correspondent says, the latest revelation will only add to the tensions between the two countries.

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Junior school pupils in Tanzania experienced a mass fainting fit while taking their final year exams, an educational official has told the BBC.



The 20 girls at Ali Hassan Mwinyi School in Tabora started fainting after finishing their first paper.

"I'm not a specialist but I imagine this was a case of mass hysteria that does happen in some of the schools," Midemo Paul Makungu said.

He said it only affected the girls, some of whom took 40 minutes to revive.

"There was chaos, crying, screaming, running after that first paper," Mr Makungu, Tabora's educational officer, told the BBC News website.

More than 140 Standard Seven pupils were taking the national exam at the school in the north of the country.

He said special arrangements were made so that those who had fainted could finish the other two papers they had that day.

"They eventually finished at 11pm," he said.

It is not the first such incident at the school - over the last month there have been several mass fainting fits amongst the girl pupils.

"Normally this happens in girls' secondary schools. It is very common here," Mr Makungu said.

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