Washington - The blame game between Russia and Georgia over who started the war and who continues to inflict more damage continued Friday, as former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev sparred with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on CNN.

Georgia may blame Russia for the conflict in South Ossetia, but "there is no doubt" that Georgia provoked the clash, Gorbachev told CNN's Larry King.

He said that Russia moved additional troops into South Ossetia to counter the "barbaric assault" of Georgia on the city of Tskhinvali.

Tbilisi - Russia has used cluster bombs during its incursion this week into Georgian territory, the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleged.

In a statement issued early Friday from Tbilisi, HRW condemned the practise, which it claimed to have documented from airstrikes Tuesday in two Georgian cities.

"Cluster bombs are indiscriminate killers that most nations have agreed to outlaw," said Marc Garlasco, HRW senior military analyst.

Taipei - Taiwan should learn a lesson from the ongoing conflict in the Caucasus and beware of a similar situation with China, a Taiwanese political analyst said Friday.

"Georgia's tragedy is a warning for Taiwan. Georgia sees a Russia which wants to regain its past power. Taiwan sees a China which has already risen," political analyst Antonio Chiang said in his column in the Apple Daily.

"Every now and then, thug leaders pick out a weakling and knock his head against the wall, to remind others who is in charge," he wrote in an article entitled, A Small but Smart War.

Tbilisi, Georgia - The Russian army on Thursday announced plans to hand over control of the central Georgian city of Gori to the Georgian police in a step away from escalation of the South Ossetia conflict.

Russian troops were moving north Thursday morning and the handover would take place Friday, Russian General Viacheslav Borisov said, according to a report from Russia's Interfax news agency.

The troops had orders to collect weapons, ammunition as well as military equipment left behind by the Georgian army, he said.

London, Aug. 14 : Russia continues to challenge the United States, and especially President George W Bush to "choose" between Washington''s relationship with Georgia and its future ties with Moscow.

The challenge was mounted as Russian troops in about 70 military vehicles left Gori and headed towards Georgian capital Tbilisi, located 50 miles away.

In appeared to be a calculated defiance of the US and the European Union, which mediated a ceasefire deal 24 hours earlier, reports The Telegraph.

It maybe recalled that Bush had warned that the Russian advance could damage ties between the two countries, and demanded that Moscow "keep its word" over the ceasefire.

Tbilisi, Georgia - The Russian army on Thursday announced plans to hand over control of the central Georgian city of Gori to the Georgian police in a step away from escalation of the South Ossetia conflict.

Russian troops were moving north Thursday morning and the handover would take place Friday, Russian General Viacheslav Borisov said, according to a report from Russia's Interfax news agency.

Borisov made the announcement after late-night meetings in Gori with Georgia's national security minister, Aleksander Lomaia.