Russians Dig In Despite Georgia Truce
Russian soldiers dug trenches and built fortifications in key areas of Georgia on Thursday after the commander of Moscow's forces in the region said troops sent to reinforce peacekeepers would be pulled out in 10 days.
"The withdrawal of the Russian troops which have reinforced the peacekeepers from the territory of Georgia is going according to plan and will be completed in 10 days," Ground Forces Commander Vladimir Boldyrev told reporters by telephone. "These forces will be withdrawn to Russian territory."
Although Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has promised that his forces would pull back as far as separatist Ossetia and a surrounding zone by Friday, Russian troops appeared to be in no hurry.
An EU-sponsored cease-fire requires both Russian and Georgian forces to move back to positions held before fighting broke out Aug. 7 in Georgia's separatist republic of South Ossetia, which has close ties to Russia. The Russians are allowed to remain in zones around Georgia's borders with South Ossetia and another separatist region, Abkhazia.
NFL Union Chief Gene Upshaw Dies
Hall of Fame guard and long-time NFL union chief Gene Upshaw has died. He was 63.
Upshaw died Wednesday night at his home in Lake Tahoe, Calif., of pancreatic cancer, which was diagnosed only last Sunday, the NFL Players Association said Thursday.
"Gene Upshaw did everything with great dignity, pride, and conviction," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said.
Upshaw died only two days after the union announced he would hold a briefing on labor negotiations before the Sept. 4 season opener between Washington and the New York Giants.
His outstanding 15-season playing career with the Oakland Raiders included two Super Bowl wins.
Spain In Mourning After Plane Crash
Spain's prime minister has declared three days of national mourning for the victims of the country's worst air disaster in a quarter century after 153 died when a Spanair flight exploded on the runway in Madrid.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero called for the remembrance Thursday, a day after the MD-82 bound for the Canary Islands slid off the runway and burst into flames, killing all but 19 people aboard.
Flags in Madrid flew at half-staff and a silent vigil was planned for noon. The king and queen planned to visit a makeshift morgue where relatives were waiting to claim the remains of their
loved ones.
Development Minister Magdalana Alvarez said Thursday that 14 bodies had been identified so far. She said the process could take several days because many bodies were burned beyond recognition and forensic teams were using DNA techniques.
Spanair confirmed Thursday that another MD-82 was forced to make an emergency landing Saturday on a flight from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands to Madrid because of problems with both of its engines. The plane landed in the nearby island of Gran Canaria, the destination of Wednesday's flight.
Jobless Claims Fall For Second Week
The number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, the second consecutive weekly drop from a six-year high.
The Labor Department said applications for jobless benefits dropped to 432,000, down by 13,000 from the previous week.
But the four-week moving average, considered a less volatile measure than the week-to-week figure, climbed to 445,750, the highest in almost seven years.
Most economists consider a reading above 400,000 for weekly new claims to be a sign of deteriorating labor market conditions. New-claim filings have topped 400,000 for each of the past five weeks.
Meanwhile, the private New York-based Conference Board's forecast for future economic activity fell 0.7 percent in July. The index has slipped 0.9 percent over the first half of 2008.
Rice Reaches Deal For Troop Withdrawal From Iraq
Iraq and the U.S. have set a preliminary timetable for withdrawing American forces from Iraqi cities by next June, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Thursday after meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The negotiations over a timeframe for withdrawal come after President Bush's repeated insistence that setting any schedule for U.S. troops to leave would be dangerous.
The draft agreement with Iraq would link troop reductions to achievement of certain security milestones, although the details have not been made public.
Rice and Zebari, appearing together at a news conference, asserted that the proposed deal reflects growing confidence in the ability of Iraqi forces to secure the country. A final agreement
would require endorsement of the proposed deal by top Iraqi leaders and the Iraqi parliament.
