Russia: Georgia can 'forget' regaining provinces

TBILISI, Georgia — The foreign minister of Russia said Thursday that Georgia could "forget about" getting back its two breakaway provinces, and the former Soviet republic remained on edge as Russia sent tank columns to search out and destroy Georgian military equipment.

Georgia President: We'll Never Give Up Breakaway Provinces

GORI, Georgia — Russia's president said troops would begin pulling out of Georgia on Monday, but made no mention of leaving the separatist province at the heart of the conflict between the countries.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Russian President Dmitry Medvedev of failing to honor a promise to withdraw troops quickly from Georgia under terms of a cease-fire he signed Saturday.

Raw Replay - Revisiting History

BAGHDAD (AP) — The Shiite-led government is cracking down on U.S.-backed Sunni Arab fighters in one of Iraq’s most turbulent regions, arresting some leaders, disarming dozens of men and banning them from manning checkpoints except alongside official security forces.

The moves in Diyala province reflect mixed views on a movement that began in 2007 among Sunni tribes in western Iraq who revolted against al-Qaida in Iraq and joined the Americans in the fight against the terrorist network.

U.S. officials credit the rise of such groups, known variously as Awakening Councils, Sons of Iraq and Popular Committees, with helping rout al-Qaida.

But Iraq’s government is suspicious of such groups, fearing their decision to break with the insurgency was a short-term tactic to gain U.S. money and support. The government fears they will eventually turn their guns against Iraq’s majority Shiites.

The Raw Story | Venezuela promises Paraguay 'all the oil it needs'

Chavez and Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop whose election broke with 61 years of one-party rule in Paraguay, did not mention any price agreement for the oil imports.

Lugo has insisted that he is more moderate than Chavez and his socialist allies in Latin America. But in his first two days in office the Paraguayan leader showed interest in tightening ties with the region's leftist.

On Friday evening he and Chavez held a news conference with Ecuador President Rafael Correa, who celebrated the socialist revolution he said they all belonged to.

Credit crunch may take out large US bank warns former IMF chief - Times Online

The deepening toll from the global financial crisis could trigger the failure of a large US bank within months, a respected former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund claimed today, fuelling another battering for banking shares.

Professor Kenneth Rogoff, a leading academic economist, said there was yet worse news to come from the worldwide credit crunch and financial turmoil, particularly in the United States, and that a high-profile casualty among American banks was highly likely.

At inner-city LA high, nearly 6 in 10 drop out - Yahoo! News

LOS ANGELES - Amid the verdant lawn and leafy trees of the tidy Jefferson Senior High School campus, a police officer patrols the grounds and a sign warns that guns are illegal.
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Students in this inner-city school say gang members frequently disrupt class, and teachers spend much of their time dealing with troublemakers.

The biggest problem here, however, may be what you don't see — all the dropouts.

With a 58 percent dropout rate, Jefferson has the worst dropout record in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second-largest.

Taliban Escalate Afghan Fighting - NYTimes.com

BAMIYAN, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents mounted their most serious attacks in six years of fighting in Afghanistan over the last two days, including a coordinated assault by at least 10 suicide bombers against one of the largest American military bases in the country, and another by about 100 insurgents who killed 10 elite French paratroopers.

Some Say Bailout of Housing Giants Is Inevitable - NYTimes.com

Financial conditions are continuing to worsen at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, leading some investors to prepare for a government bailout of the housing giants even as the Treasury Department and the companies say such government intervention will not be necessary.

Stock prices of both companies fell again on Tuesday, and some large overseas investors slowed their purchases of securities issued by the companies. Share prices at both Fannie and Freddie have plummeted by more than 24 percent in the last two days, and more than 85 percent since December. On Tuesday, Freddie Mac was forced to pay its steepest borrowing premium in 10 years.