Georgia

Russia cemented its ties with Georgia's two breakaway provinces by signing friendship treaties envisaging close economic and military cooperation. President Dmitry Medvedev pledged that Russia would protect Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Russia recognized as independent after its war last month with Georgia. Georgia dismissed the treaties as legally void, saying the regions remain part of Georgia. In Australia, a parliamentary committee recommended that the nation not ratify a treaty that would allow its uranium to be sold to Russia for power generation, partly because of the Russian troop presence in Georgia.

Relations between the United States and Russia have been chilly since Russia invaded Georgia in August, but there's some warming at a small museum in Clinton, Mass. The Museum of Russian Icons said Thursday that the State Tretyakov Gallery of Moscow has agreed to send 16 of its most precious icons there for display from Oct. 16 to May 1. It's the first time some of the icons have left Moscow. The crisis in Georgia, which was condemned by the United States, almost scuttled the exhibit, but officials at the museums were able to reach an agreement.

Foreign ministers from major powers scrapped talks in New York this week on more sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program after Moscow opposed the move, U.S. and Russian officials said. Russia has been angered by U.S. calls for Moscow to be penalized over its war with Georgia. The U.S. had balked at holding a high-level meeting of industrialized nations that would have included Russia.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of sending weapons and military personnel to help Georgia during its August war with Russia. Without referring to Ukraine's president by name, Putin suggested that Viktor Yushchenko authorized weapons supplies to Georgia before and during the war. He also alleged that Ukrainian military personnel fought on Georgia's side during the conflict. "When people and military systems are used to kill Russian soldiers, it's a crime," Putin told reporters.

Ukrainian officials denied Russian accusations that Ukraine provided weapons to Georgia during the August war with Russia and that its military personnel operated some of the weapons during the conflict. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made the charge Thursday, calling it "a crime" that the former Soviet republic helped Georgia during the fighting. Ukraine is a top supplier of weapons to Georgia. But the head of its state arms export company, Ukrspetsexport, said no arms were sold during the war, the Interfax news agency reported.

The troubled suburban widow who was kidnapped by alleged courthouse shooter Brian Nichols took the witness stand in his murder trial Monday, facing the man she famously tamed three years ago with Bible verses, cunning and a helping of crystal meth. Ashley Smith Robinson, a former drug addict, told prosecutor Kellie Hill that she had once felt grateful to Nichols for letting her escape unharmed. Hill asked Robinson if she was still grateful. "No ma'am," Robinson said. "I am grateful to God."

The diners at Butch's Family Restaurant gave Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss the warmest of welcomes when he stopped in recently. They smiled as he moved from table to table, shaking hands and asking after each of them with avuncular concern. A local pastor prayed for Chambliss, calling him a man who "stands for principles we believe in." "Aw, I'm getting a hug," said one middle-aged voter as she lunged toward the silver-haired lawmaker.

Saxby Chambliss: An article in Saturday's Section A about Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss' Georgia reelection race misidentified lawyer Walter Gordon of Hartwell, Ga. -- a supporter of Chambliss' opponent -- as David Gordon.

An Atlanta man who claimed the delusion that he was leading a "slave rebellion" had launched him on a courthouse shooting spree was found guilty of murder Friday. Jurors, who rejected Brian Nichols' insanity claim, on Monday will begin hearing evidence in the sentencing phase of the trial. They must decide whether Nichols, 36, should receive the death penalty or life in prison for the 2005 rampage that left four people dead -- including a judge, a court reporter and two law enforcement officers.