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As critics question her approach to Russia, aides to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice say she played a key role in getting Georgia to sign a peace plan with Russia and uniting NATO around a common response.

Russia is facing international isolation over this month's attacks in Georgia, and the country failed to enlist the support it wanted from China and a group of former Soviet republics in Central Asia. Moscow has accused NATO of "battleship diplomacy."

In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe is planning to form a new government without the consent of the main opposition party, the state-owned newspaper reports. The news comes as talks between Mugabe and the opposition leader have stalled.

Foreign policy experience and expertise is critical to many American voters in choosing a president. In this week's international briefing, hear how the Democratic National Convention (DNC) is being viewed by the foreign press. Jesus Esquivel, of Mexico's Proceso political magazine and John Mulaa from Kenya's East African Standard discuss how media from abroad are being received at the DNC.

In Bangkok, Thailand, anti-government protesters are still occupying the grounds of the prime minister's office. For a third straight day, the demonstrators are demanding his resignation. The government has said it will not remove the protesters by force, but it has issued arrest warrants for nine of the group's leaders.

Many people in South Ossetia hope their region will eventually rejoin with Russia. Earlier this week, Moscow formally recognized that breakaway region in Georgia as independent. Officials in South Ossetia are careful not to talk about unification. They say if they were to become part of Russia right away, the situation could backfire because it would look like annexation.

After a joint U.S.-Afghan military operation allegedly killed 90 Afghan civilians, Afghan support for U.S. military action is waning. Officials say bad intelligence probably led to the deadly strike aimed at Taliban fighters.

Wednesday's speeches are designed to show how Biden and Obama will mesh in their approach to America's role in the world. But some question how closely their ideas align.

Multinationals have invested billions of dollars into developing an energy thruway that circumvents Russian territory. With the recent Russian-Georgian war, the route's security is questionable.

The Afghan government is demanding that the U.S. and NATO presence there come under greater scrutiny. The move comes after the U.N. determined a U.S.-led air strike last week killed 90 civilians, most of them children.

Thousands of demonstrators in Thailand are occupying the prime minister's office compound. They vow to stay there until the government resigns.

The United States will not dock a Coast Guard ship carrying humanitarian aid in the Georgian city of Poti. Russian forces are posted on the outskirts of the port city. A U.S. embassy spokesman says the ship will dock well south of where Russian and Georgian forces clashed this month.

A U.S. Coast Guard cutter loaded with humanitarian aid for Georgia docked at the country's Black Sea port of Batumi on Wednesday. The ship stayed clear of another port where Russian troops were stationed.

Street life in the neighborhoods is picking up, with vendors, hawkers and street games of table soccer resurfacing. Residents of Sadr City credit the area's radical Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr for the quiet in their impoverished neighborhood.

As production of crude oil falls in Mexico, debate continues on the issue of privatization of the oil monopoly. Without radical reform, Mexico could run out of oil in less than a decade.

Although the U.S. is neutral on who will be Pakistan's next president, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. envoy to the U.N., has been speaking several times to one candidate. His conversations have angered State Department higher-ups, who put an end to them.

Birthrates across Europe are falling, says a new study by the Berlin Institute for Population and Development. Reiner Klingholz, the institute's director, says the region's population will be constant over the next 50 years thanks only to immigration.

Missing relatives and loved ones are slowly being found in mass graves in Iraq, though identification is a challenge. Despite registration of missing people, officials are having trouble simply locating the bodies.

Russia has formally recognized the breakaway Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which were at the heart of the recent war with Georgia. President Dmitry Medvedev said Georgia forced Russia's hand by trying to seize control of South Ossetia.

Georgian leaders reacted angrily to news that Russia had recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Georgia's president declared that Russia had no legal basis for the move. He and other Georgians fear it will lead Russia to eventually annex the two territories.

President Medvedev signed a decree Tuesday recognizing the independence of two breakaway regions of Georgia. The Bush administration is not happy with Russia's decree. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the move "regrettable."

Chinese authorities detained a number of people believed to be aiding pro-Tibet protestors during the Olympics. Tom Grant, an independent filmmaker from New York City, was released Sunday after spending five days in a Beijing detention center.

Gen. Norton Schwartz is a man in line with Defense Secretary Robert Gates' vision of the Air Force. Unlike his fired predecessor, Schwartz isn't reluctant to send Air Force officers and more intelligence and surveillance to Iraq.

During the past few weeks, large demonstrations have taken place in Kashmir. Muslims have taken to the streets to demand an end to Indian rule. Troops are enforcing a curfew, and shops, schools and businesses are closed.

The Bush administration is not happy with Russia's latest move to effectively dismember one of its neighbors. Russia's parliament voted Monday to recognize the independence of two breakaway regions of Georgia, and on Tuesday, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev signed a decree making that decision final.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev defied U.S. pressure and signed a decree Tuesday recognizing the independence of the breakaway Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The move will further complicate strained relations with the U.S.

A summer camp at the recently reopened center in Baghdad is offering Iraqi children a safe place to learn and play, away from the violence. Through art projects and plays, children try to experience the normalcy of prewar Iraq.

On Aug. 25, 1958, the first package of Chicken Ramen was sold in Japan, making today the 50th anniversary of the iconic instant meal. Momofuku Ando was much more than just a noodle inventor — he was a philosopher, too.

The Russian withdrawal from Gori has left several of the town's neighborhoods damaged. But for the most part, Russia made a conscious choice not to destroy the civilian infrastructure of Gori, which retained electricity and running water throughout the crisis.

In this week's edition of America in the World, Greg Craig, senior adviser to Sen. Barack Obama, and Ted Koppel, NPR news analyst, discuss Obama's foreign policy priorities. What might an Obama administration mean for international politics?

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday pulled his party out of the ruling coalition. The main party in the coalition, the Pakistan People's Party, will have to scramble to hold the government together.

NPR's Frank Langfitt used to be a newspaper correspondent in Beijing. After five years away, he returned to his old neighborhood during the Olympics. What he found was a lot of new wealth. And some repression.

As the Summer Olympics in Beijing end, Chinese citizens considers the event a resounding success, and national pride goes beyond the gold medals won by Chinese athletes.

The Beijing Olympic Games have ended in a blaze of fireworks, with the largest share of gold medals going to the host country. Chinese citizens and state media said that their success in holding the games for the first time would make China a more confident and open country.

The war in Iraq has had a severe impact on the country's children. More than 650 children were reported killed there last year. Iraq's children also have been the victims of kidnapping, torture and rape. A clinic for children suffering post-traumatic stress disorder is opening this month in Baghdad.

It's a common sound in the Australian bush, starting up just around daylight: the laughing call of the kookaburra. These birds get together in small groups, have a chat and then go into a full laughter song, letting other kookaburras know where their territory is.

China's 51 gold medals proved its status as a sports powerhouse, and the games showed off its modernity and organization. "China has stood up in the world," one expert says.

Pirates have been capturing ships and kidnapping crews in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia. Four boats were targeted in the past week alone. So far, a U.N.-backed naval fleet seems unable to stop them.

It was a sight some thought they'd never see again: an estimated crowd of 100,000 Iraqis on Sunday in Baghdad — to watch a soccer match. It's the first time since the U.S. invasion that a group that large has been able to gather peacefully in the war-torn capital.