The theme was Ossetian folklore, but its expression was a triumph of contemporary design.

ECONOMIST: The stage of nations

South Ossetia is a tiny patchwork with perhaps as few as 50, 000 inhabitants in the Ossetian-controlled part.

ECONOMIST: The independence precedent

On August 7th Georgian and South Ossetian officials were due to have direct talks facilitated by a Russian diplomat.

ECONOMIST: Russia and Georgia

Mr Saakashvili also insists that this bombardment was in retaliation for Ossetian shelling of Georgian villages after the Georgians had declared a ceasefire.

ECONOMIST: Coping with the fraught aftermath of August��s war

The world-renowned conductor Valery Gergiev, himself an Ossetian, gave a concert in the devastated South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali with his home orchestra, the Mariinsky of St Petersburg.

BBC: Russians halt Nato co-operation

New video installations by Sven Ortel add welcome scenic relief to the production, but Mr Zeldin was nevertheless obliged to take on the old set, which is dominated by four 12-foot-high giants, the primordial gods of Ossetian mythology.

ECONOMIST: Valery Gergiev's ��Ring��