Russia

Senior military leaders took the exceptional step of briefing President George W. Bush this week on a severe and widespread electronic attack on Defense Department computers that might have originated in Russia, posing unusual concern among commanders and potential implications for national security. Defense officials would not describe the extent of damage inflicted on military networks. But they said the attack struck hard at networks within U.S. Central Command, the headquarters that oversees U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, and affected computers in combat zones.

I might have to consider staying longer on the continent, especially after the discovery that they serve beer at McDonald's restaurants in some foreign countries. In particular, this revelation has given me a new appreciation for the French culture. If that isn't enough, I boarded an AirBerlin flight on Thursday and the flight attendants were handing out free copies of Playboy, which caused me to spontaneously blurt out, "What a country!" Unfortunately, it was the German language version of Playboy, so it was useless to me. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.

MOSCOW - It's a truism that stable and friendly relations between two countries require each to look at a situation from the other's point of view. The recent tussle between Russia and the West over Georgia is a stark reminder of how the United States has fundamentally never understood Russia's point of view. The conventional view is that Russia in recent years has been pushing away from the West. But the reverse is more accurate. The Russia-Georgia conflict is a consequence of the West's "pushing away" of Russia.

State is striving to save infants The editorial "Why do so many die?" (Sept. 28) highlights a serious issue - Maryland's high infant mortality rate - but suggests that little is being done about it. Let me correct that misconception. This is a complex problem being tackled by numerous concerned organizations. For instance, the Perinatal Safety Culture Collaborative, led by the Maryland Patient Safety Center, with funding from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, has identified and implemented clinical practices to make births safer for babies and mothers.

One in 10 American light bulbs is powered with fuel from dismantled Russian nuclear bombs, which means the lights in your house represent, in a real sense, bombs that will never go off. Potential nuclear bomb material that once was stored in the equivalent of a high school gym locker with a padlock that could be cut with a bolt-cutter now is stored in secure vaults with heavy steel doors. But there is much more to be done to control the dangerous legacies of the Cold War, not only in Russia but around the world.

Visitors to the first Jarrettsville Car and Truck Show Saturday will see custom models and classic vehicles, sample savory fare and get a look at newly carved totem poles that will eventually stand at the entrance to a playground in the Siberian region of Russia. The poles, carved from a 20-foot Alaskan cedar log last week at a Jarrettsville lumber yard by Randy Boni and Rick Pratt, are the latest enhancement to the Krasnoyarsk Playground Project, the sole beneficiary of proceeds from the car show.

TBILISI, Georgia - A new front has opened between Georgia and Russia, this one over which side was the aggressor whose military activities early last month ignited the lopsided five-day war. At issue is new inconclusive intelligence that paints a more complicated picture of the critical last hours before war broke out. Georgia has released intercepted telephone calls purporting to show that part of a Russian armored regiment crossed into South Ossetia...

WASHINGTON - In her first interview since becoming the Republican nominee for vice president, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said the United States might have to go to war with Russia under certain circumstances, and she firmly rejected questions about her readiness for office. Palin, who returned to Alaska to see her oldest son off to Iraq yesterday, sat down with ABC World News anchor Charlie Gibson for a series of interviews. The first interviews aired on World News and Nightline and the final clips will air today on Good Morning America, World News and a special edition of 20/20.

The Russian invasion of Georgia complicated what was already a major headache for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration: how to get to and from the International Space Station, which was funded mostly by U.S. taxpayer dollars, after NASA's aging fleet of space shuttles retires in 2010. NASA expected Russian rockets to ferry its astronauts between 2010 and 2015, when the shuttle's replacement is due to fly. But a chill in U.S.-Russian relations could throw a monkey wrench into that plan.