Russian general says troops out of Georgia
Moscow
A top Russian general said early today that Russia has completed its withdrawal of troops that had been based in Georgia since the Soviet collapse, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.
The presence of Russian troops in the ex-Soviet republic was one of the longtime irritants between Georgia and its giant neighbor.
“There are no more Russian troops in Georgia, there remain only peacekeepers … in Abkhazia and those that are part of the combined forces in South Ossetia with the participation of Georgia,” the news agency quoted Gen. Alexei Maslov, commander-in-chief of the Russian ground troops, as saying.
Abkhazia and South Ossetia are two separatist regions of Georgia that have been outside Georgian control since the mid-1990s. Georgian leaders complain that Russian troops in both regions support the separatists, and their continued presence is likely to remain a hotly disputed issue between Tbilisi and Moscow.
Paris
Sarkozy faces more walkouts
Transport workers shut down most trains Wednesday, testing the patience of Parisians forced to walk, bike or skate to work with a strike aimed at derailing President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to strip away labor protections he says hurt France’s competitiveness.
Both the state train authority, which began its strike Tuesday night, and the Paris transport system announced a fresh day of walkouts today - despite a green light from Sarkozy to open talks while ceding nothing.
Just 90 of 700 trains ran Wednesday. The Eurostar between Paris and London, run by a separate company, was not affected by the strike.
The government and the unions are seeking a compromise in the standoff over Sarkozy’s bid to pare down special pension benefits for a few privileged sectors, such as train drivers who currently retire at 50.
Utilities workers and employees of opera houses - where curtains remained drawn Wednesday - are among those who would lose special benefits.
In a breakthrough, Sarkozy agreed to a proposal by powerful CGT union boss Bernard Thibault for company-by-company talks with a government official present.
Seoul, South Korea
North Korea agrees to open railway
North Korea agreed in principle to formally open a reconnected railway for regular cargo service across its heavily armed border with South Korea before the end of the year, an official said today.
The two sides were trying set a specific date at high-level talks in Seoul for starting service on the 16-mile-long track for transport to and from a joint industrial complex in the North’s border city of Kaesong, Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Nam-shik said.
In May, the sides conducted a one-time test run on the track and another reconnected rail line, marking the first train crossings across the frontier in more than half a century. But no regular service has yet started.
The rail’s opening would mark one of the first tangible results of a landmark summit held between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang last month.
Seattle Times news services