Russia battled Georgian forces on land and sea, reports said today, despite a Georgian ceasefire offer and its claim to be withdrawing from South Ossetia, the separatist province ravaged by days of intense fighting.

American and UN health experts have arrived in Iraq to help this war-ravaged country fight a new battle – bird flu. Officials said yesterday that at least eight people are in hospital suffering symptoms akin to the deadly H5N1 strain.